Songs for Daddy
by Bar-Ohki
Summary: Suddenly Hiruma abandons his job, football, and his friends, disappearing into nothing. After several years, Mamori finds a strange girl in her Kindergarten class, a girl strange enough to have the only remaining connection to the missing quarterback....
1. Prolouge: Nightswimming

Author's Note: Now that I've freed myself of one of my multi-chapter fics, I can start another one. Hopefully I'll finish this one. Because the chapter titles are songs, I'm going to give you the song name and its artist. This is not a song fic, though each song does accompany each of the chapters nicely. I'd offer links, but , as we know, does not allow this. You can look any of these songs up on Youtube or Google if you are not familiar with them.

Disclaimer (only time I'm going to say this): I do not own Eyeshield 21.

Rating: Most chapters will be T for swearing, adult topics, and whatnot. There will be a few M rated scenes for gore and sex in later chapters, I'll warn you when those come.

Summary: After receiving a phone call, Hiruma abandons his job, his football team, and his friends, disappearing into nothing. After several years pass, Mamori finds a strange girl in her Kindergarten class, a girl strange enough to have the only remaining connection to the missing quarterback….

Pairings: Past HirumaOC, present nothing decided, future HiruMamo.

Warnings: Angst, depressing things, death, childish innocence, Hiruma's vocabulary, sex, and parents being evil.

Song For This Chapter: Nightswimming is by REM, I do not own it either.

Songs for Daddy

Prologue: Nightswimming

Takekura Gen looked at his reflection in the window of his car. He didn't look that different than he did in high school, just a few more wrinkles here and there with a few more white hairs here and there and a bit of grey stubble as opposed to black stubble. He had discarded the Mohawk of his youth for the simple, professional cut of middle age. He wore nice suits that came with owning your own construction company as often as he wore the company football uniform. Right now he was wearing one of those red football uniforms, looking at the reflection that reminded him of high school and college, the reflection that reminded him of his old friend: Hiruma Youichi.

With a small sigh, the man pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked his car. He climbed inside and turned on the car radio. The news station told him how boring the day had been. Takekura nodded once and changed to the local rock station, preferring to hear something energetic on his way home.

Instead he got a foreign song he had not heard before. It had a symphony accompaniment to a calm, clear voice and a piano. The man sung in English, speaking of old things he used to enjoy with his friends, and how as the man drove home, he realized how sad it was that he could no longer do these things.

_"I'm not sure all these people understand, it's not like years ago."_ The man sang over the radio. Takekura understood English well, even if he spoke it with an egregious accent. Takekura remembered standing on the football field with only 11 comrades who all shared one single dream and drive. Things had been much simpler in high school, much clearer.

_"You, I thought I knew you, you I cannot judge. You, I thought you knew me, this one laughing quietly, underneath my breath."_ The foreign man surprised Takekura with his words. Takekura remembered Hiruma, the man's quirks, the man's smirks. Hiruma had been a hard person to read at the best of times. But there was one thing Takekura thought he understood about Hiruma and that was Hiruma's love of friendship and football. Both of which Hiruma tossed aside one day and disappeared the next, without any trace he had even existed.

Hiruma Youichi had been missing for years.

There had been no warning or explanation. Just a simple letter of resignation on Takekura's desk one morning that said "I quit". All of Hiruma's cell phones fell out of service and the man hadn't been living at the address he claimed to have been, because the landlord explained that the renter had been some woman by the name of Saburo Chizue, who had just recently passed away.

The question that Takekura often asked himself when he thought of his old, missing friend, was why?

Why did Hiruma disappear?

_=_=_=_=_

Please leave a comment.


	2. 1: The Wrong Child

Author's Note: Normally I'll try to change bands around, but this song fits this chapter best, so I'm sticking with it. On a different note, I'm basing the school experience (age and all) off my own since I don't really understand the Japanese school system.

Rating: I'm calling this chapter rated T, for safety's sake.

Story So Far: Takekura "Musashi" Gen had a musing about Hiruma Youichi's disappearance as he drove home.

Song: The Wrong Child is by R.E.M., I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 1: The Wrong Child

Anezaki Mamori was a tall, motherly figure. She had a warm, welcoming face with blue eyes and brown hair. Though she was unmarried without any children of her own, she definitely had a mother's connection with children. It made her classroom more of a family room. Currently Anezaki was wearing a blue turtle neck with a pair of black slacks. Over this ensemble was a pink Rocket Bear apron.

Saburo Haruka decided she liked Anezaki's way of teaching. Saburo was an elderly woman with a face like a wrinkled cherub and head of silvery hair. She was a small, frail woman with a fierce gaze. Currently the elderly woman was wearing a conservative blue dress.

"Good day, Anezaki-chan." Saburo bowed in greeting.

"Good day, Saburo-san." Anezaki bowed back. "I'm looking forward to meeting your granddaughter today."

"Emiko-chan has been very excited about coming to school." Saburo explained with a laugh. "She didn't want to go to bed last night!"

"Oh my!" Anezaki laughed with the elder woman. "Say, where is Emiko-chan?"

"She's just saying goodbye to her father, she'll be along any moment now." Saburo looked behind her to see a little girl running towards them. The little girl had her hair tied up in two pigtails with red ribbon. Her hair was black and her face was heart shaped. Emiko had big brown eyes and a pointy nose. The little white dress she was wearing already had a bit of brown dust about the bottom. When the girl got closer Anezaki noticed that her ears were pointy. It was a curious trait in a child, but Anezaki thought nothing of it.

"Hello there, Emiko-chan." Anezaki greeted the child. "I'm Anezaki-sensei."

"Nice to meet you Anezaki-sensei." Emiko had a light, cute voice. She bowed quickly, as if she had almost forgotten to do it.

"Now, Emiko-chan, you have a good day at school, okay?" Saburo wished her granddaughter.

"Okay." Emiko nodded to her grandmother.

"Let's go inside and meet the other students, okay?" Anezaki held out her hand. Emiko stared at her hand, clearly a little confused.

"Do you not want to hold hands?" Anezaki asked.

"Do we need to?" Emiko was a little confused. "Papa and I never need to hold hands."

"No, why don't you follow me then?" Anezaki was experienced with dealing with children from several different backgrounds. Emiko was not from a standard background, that Anezaki could already see. She led the girl into a classroom and had her sit down in the chair by the window. Emiko looked around the room once, her big eyes taking in every detail and committing it to memory.

The classroom had a total of 13 students, six boys and six girls and Emiko. Mamori had arranged the seats in three rows of four seats, but with Emiko's arrival Mamori had to fit another desk into the classroom. Mamori had simply stuck the 13th chair on the end of the second row, with no desk in front or behind it. Later that day, Mamori planned to shift the second row a little so that Emiko's desk didn't stick out as much.

All the current students were staring at Emiko, specifically at her pointed ears. Emiko didn't look at them but instead continued to take in the cute alphabet poster Mamori had ran along the top of the walls. There were several little posters with big letters that advertised things like 'sharing' and 'playing fair' around the classroom. Emiko's favorite poster was the one that had all of the names of the colors written in their respective colors.

"Today we have a new friend, Emiko-chan." Anezaki addressed the class. "Please welcome her warmly, she'll be with us from here on out."

School had been going for two weeks when Emiko joined the class. Because of a paperwork error and some confusion on the part of her parents, Emiko didn't finish her school registration until the second week of class. The other students continued to stare at the new girl like she had come from another planet.

"Emiko-chan, could you tell us about yourself?" Anezaki asked the girl, who's wandering eyes finally stopped on her.

"…Why?" Emiko asked with a small voice.

"Pardon?" Anezaki hoped she had not just heard what she thought she heard.

"Why should I tell you about me?" Emiko asked. "Does it matter?"

"Emiko-chan, we're all just trying to get to know one another better, so knowing what someone likes and doesn't like helps." Anezaki explained. "You are certainly full of questions."

"I like to go to the park with Papa." Emiko answered simply. "I don't like going to Grandma's house."

"Um… what is your favorite game?" Anezaki asked, hoping for an answer closer to what would help the other kids her age get to know her better.

"Minesweeper." Emiko answered being completely unhelpful.

"Is your head broken?" One of the boys asked. Mamori opened her mouth to protest but Emiko beat her to it.

"What if my head wasn't broken but everyone else's was?" Emiko asked, stunning the class. "What does it mean to be the only working thing in a world full of broken?" The class looked to Anezaki, hoping for an answer.

"It would be lonely." Anezaki answered.

"…I suppose so." Emiko looked out the window longingly.

And that was how Anezaki Mamori met Emiko.

_=_=_=_=_

Emiko is talking about minesweeper, the computer game.

Please comment!


	3. 2: Photograph

Author's Note: For something that I feel is one of my better works, this story sure doesn't have the amount of attention I think it deserves. Lack of reviews make for depressed authors! I'll shut my rant up now.

Rating: This chapter is rated T.

Story So Far: Hiruma Youichi has been missing for several years with no explanation. Anezaki just had the most peculiar girl join her class by the name of Emiko.

Song: Photograph is by Nickelback, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 2: Photograph

"Emiko's getting really big…" Hiruma Youichi commented to the photograph he was holding. The picture was of a woman with a heart-shaped face, long black hair, and large brown eyes. She had soft, gentile features. It was impossible to tell in the photograph, as the woman was simply standing in front of a tree trunk, exactly how tall she was. Hiruma, having known the woman for several years, knew that she was almost as tall as he was. In the bottom left corner of the picture were a few words written carefully in pen. It read 'Chizue, 1 month'.

Hiruma put the photograph back into the album he had left out on the table. Hiruma Youichi was a gaunt-looking man, with a thin face and pointed features. His hair was a spiky, uncontrolled black mess. Hiruma's most memorable features were his green, cat-like eyes, his fanged teeth, and his pointy, elf-like ears. He was muscular and athletic, despite having retired from sports years ago.

Carefully, with his long fingers, Hiruma shut the photo album. The cover of the red leather album read 'Hiruma' in letters that matched the small golden band on Hiruma's right ring finger. After shutting the album, Hiruma left it on the table in favor of tending to the mass of dishes in the sink. He hummed quietly to himself as he scrubbed all the crap off the plates.

There was a door slamming loudly from another part of the apartment.

"Youichi where are you!?" An old woman's voice shrieked loudly from around where the door slammed.

"Why did the fucking old bat have to come?" Hiruma hissed under his breath. He turned his head and then bellowed, "the kitchen!"

Angry footsteps stomped across the apartment, stopping just inside of the doorway to the kitchen. Hiruma didn't have to look at the old woman to know who it was.

"Have you heard the words that have been coming out of my granddaughter's mouth recently!?" Saburo Haruka ranted as she stormed up to stand next to Hiruma.

"I believe it was something on the lines of 'Papa, make the old bat go away!'…. Why do you ask?" Hiruma didn't bother to look up from the dishes.

"You son of a-!" Saburo was cut off by the deadly glare Hiruma was now giving her.

"Don't insult my mother because you can't take a small joke." Hiruma's voice was calm and furious. He took a breath and turned back to the dishes. "What words?"

"She keeps on demanding to know where her mother is!" Saburo ranted, unconcealed rage in her voice. "You said you'd take of that!"

"I did," Hiruma answered, "Emiko knows who her mother was and visits the grave once a month. Now, I believe the word Emiko has been actually saying is 'Mommy', which she does not have."

"What are you talking about!? Chizue was her mother-!" Saburo protested.

"Exactly." Hiruma's hands stopped. "Chizue was her mother, not her 'Mommy', not her 'Mom', just her mother."

"…You don't really know how to raise a child." Saburo commented, glaring. "Everyday it becomes more and more obvious just how inept you are at parenting."

"The match is far from over, you bat!" Hiruma glared at Saburo. "Don't call it a loss until the ref calls game."

"Don't call me 'bat', you heathen!" Saburo growled.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and dry these?" Hiruma offered her a towel. "After all, you said that I quote 'could not ever hope to fill a woman's place in the house' twice last week."

"I'm not here to do your dishes!" Saburo glared.

"You're such a hypocrite." Hiruma rolled his eyes at her. "Either I can or cannot do housework, figure it out already."

"What's this you've left out?" Saburo decided to change the subject to avoid losing an argument to Hiruma.

"Just some photos I wanted to show Emiko." Hiruma answered simply. "She's big enough now to understand what's happening in them."

Saburo didn't understand Hiruma's meaning, so she opened the album. The first photos were of Chizue in a white wedding gown and Hiruma in a black tuxedo. Two pages later there were photos of the couple moving into their new apartment. After the apartment were photos of Hiruma and Chizue separately, sometimes with friends, sometimes not. There were several photographs of Hiruma playing football.

"Take these out." Saburo demanded pointing at one of the football pictures. "I want Emiko to have nothing to do with that primal war game you like to play."

"I will not." Hiruma answered her as he dried a plate. "Football is part of who I am, part of who she is and I will not hide it from her."

"Youichi, I will take her from you if you continue forcing your nonsense on her." Saburo hissed.

Hiruma shut the photo album. "…Emiko is my daughter and I am raising her to the best of my ability. If you continue to claim I am not up to this task, I will have her cut out from your life, your family, and your precious business."

"That is only if you win the custody case." Saburo gave Hiruma a flat look.

"I'm going to lose?" Hiruma looked as though he was confused by this.

"Yes you are!" Saburo snapped angry.

"Hmm…." Hiruma looked like he was thinking hard about something. "Idiots are welcome to dream, I guess...."

"You bastard!" Saburo hissed.

"Language!" Hiruma snapped back at her. "I don't want my daughter parroting those words back to me or her teacher!"

Saburo didn't have a counter argument for that.

"Now, would you humor me and tell me where my daughter is before I call the police?" Hiruma asked her, his voice showing his lack of patience.

_=_=_=_=_

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Please comment!


	4. 3: Lonely Day

Author's Note: Here's an update, kind of short, kind of sad and written in the tone of a child's understanding.

Rating: This chapter is rated T.

Song: Lonely Day is by System of a Down, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 3: Lonely Day

Emiko stood by herself in the school yard. She had asked the other kids if she could play with them, just like Papa said she should, and no one wanted her to join them. They all would look away and pretend they hadn't heard her. Emiko fingered the ball in her hands sadly, playing by yourself wasn't much fun and certain games couldn't be played without others.

Emiko walked up to a wall and started tossing the ball at the ball and catching it on the rebound. It was a simple thing to do, but lonely.

Loneliness was something Emiko had lived with all her short life. Her earliest experiences with it was when her Papa would leave to go get groceries or to go meet with a client. She would be home alone, often left in a play pen with decent selection of toys and some music playing on the radio. As she got older, her Papa would take her grocery shopping, but not to meet with clients because that was work.

Emiko also felt lonely at her Grandmother's house, even though there were people there. Her Grandfather was pretty sick and spent most of his days sleeping. If Emiko had the misfortune of being around her Grandmother, she'd have to live up to her Grandmother's high and unreasonable expectations. Her Grandma often spanked Emiko if she stepped a hair out of line. Not to mention she always had to wear the most uncomfortable clothes.

At school the other kids treated her like she was some kind of monster, forcing another loneliness on Emiko. Her Papa was the only person who actually cared about Emiko, he tried so hard to keep her happy, to keep her company. He taught her several things, like how to throw a football. And even when her Papa was tired, he'd cuddle up with her and read books to her. Sometimes the books would have pictures, sometimes they would not, Emiko loved her dad's choice of books. Whenever Grandma read her books they were boring or dumb; Emiko didn't know which was worse.

Emiko didn't understand exactly what her Papa had done when she had been born, but she knew he gave up his favorite thing in the whole world to take care of her: football. That's why Emiko loved her Papa so much, he gave up everything for her and continued to do so. She didn't know why the men in the funny suits kept on telling her that she shouldn't live with her Papa anymore. Emiko knew they were wrong and told them so on a regular basis. The men never believed Emiko.

Recently the men had been telling Emiko that it was looking like she would be moving in with her Grandmother soon. They kept on telling her how wonderful that was, how she would finally free of the 'demon'. Emiko asked her Papa what the meant by 'demon', Papa had told her it was a name they were calling him and that it didn't bother him, so it shouldn't bother her. So, Emiko didn't let it.

Another ball came flying from the left, knocking her ball aside. Emiko simply reacted, managing to catch both balls before either touched the ground. She looked over and saw two of the boys from her class staring at her, stunned. Emiko cocked her head to the side, not sure what was so strange. She carried the balls over to the boys.

"Here's your ball." Emiko handed them their ball. One of the boys took it numbly. "Umm… can I join you?"

"What?" The other boy blinked, trying to figure out what Emiko had asked.

"Can I play with you?" Emiko asked again.

"We don't play with girls!" The first boy announced, stuck his tongue out at her and ran off. His friend followed him.

Emiko stared after them, sad inside, though she said nothing. She walked back over to the steps that led into the classroom. Emiko sat down and watch the other children play, chasing each other in circles.

"Emiko-chan," Anezaki had opened the classroom door and walked outside, "why aren't you playing?"

"Nobody wants to play with me." Emiko admitted. "Only Papa does and he's not here."

"Have you asked if you could play?" Anezaki asked her.

"Yeah, they ignore me." Emiko growled. "Papa says I should have friends, so I try really hard to make them! But no body likes me, I can't make anyone happy."

"I don't think that's true, Emiko-chan." Anezaki protested. "You're a nice girl, who tries her best, I'm sure there's someone there that likes you."

"My best isn't enough." Emiko frowned, disappointed in herself.

"An old friend of mine used to say that it's always possible to exceed your best." Anezaki told Emiko. "That's why we have to keep on struggling, so we can exceed our best."

"That sounds like something Papa would say!" Emiko was staring in awe.

"Sounds like your Papa is a wise man." Anezaki observed with a smile.

"Papa is the best!" Emiko beamed, proud of her Papa and the praise her teacher was giving him. "I'm going to try really hard!"

The young girl smiled and turned around. Anezaki found something familiar in Emiko's smile, something she could not quite place. That thought quickly left Anezaki's mind as she watched Emiko ran out onto the playground again, asking the others kids if she could play. Even from afar, Anezaki could easily watch the girl get rejected by person after person. Anezaki frowned, she knew that Emiko was having trouble adjusting to school, but she had no idea the social problems were this bad. Emiko wasn't at fault for most of the issues either; it was the other students that were choosing to isolate her.

After another unsuccessful round of trying to make friends Emiko walked over to the swings and played by herself, looking lonely and sad. Anezaki felt like crying, seeing the young girl so sad.

Before the teacher could stand up and do something, the bell rang, calling the students back into the school building for the last of their classes. Emiko, to no one's surprise, was depressed and not interested in the lesson. Anezaki tried to pull the girl's interest in, but Emiko proved to be insanely stubborn about it.

"Alright now we're going to draw pictures." Anezaki announced, pulling out paper. The children cheered, happy to get to draw. Emiko even perked up, her brown eyes holding the most excitement they had had all day. Emiko started drawing her Papa with renewed vigor and joy.

Anezaki smiled, glad to have finally found something that would cheer the girl up.

Little did Anezaki know, an hour later, when school ended, Emiko would become truly lonely for the first time in her young life. She would be moving away from her Papa, forever.

_=_=_=_=_

Here we have a cliffhanger, tell me what you think.


	5. 4: She's the Blade

Author Note: This song title is symbolic.

Song: She's the Blade is by Sugarcult, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 4: She's the Blade

Hiruma Yuuya came into the bar he always frequented on Friday nights, wearing nothing but his usual brown business suit. As usual, Yuuya had his brown hair combed back in a professional style, it made his pointed ears look little less strange. Because the bar was particularly full today, Yuuya had little choice but to sit down next to between a woman he correctly assumed was a hooker and a man in a black suit. The hooker was very interested in the man on her left while the black suited man had set his head on his arms and looked like he was sleeping on the counter. Yuuya didn't pay the other patrons any more attention once he decided that he wasn't going to be having a confrontation with either of them.

"Ah, the usual today?" The bald, skinny barkeep asked. Yuuya had frequented this bar for years, which made him a regular with his usual drink.

"Yes."

"Hit me, fucker." The man in the black suit demanded on Yuuya's right.

"No." The barkeep shook his head and proceeded to make Yuuya's drink.

"…What happened to him?" Yuuya asked the barkeep quietly, eyeing the black haired, black suited man wearily.

"Not sure. He came in here pissed as hell, demanded drinks then got himself into a drunken stupor." The barkeep explained as he handed Yuuya his drink. "We get folks like him on occasion, don't pay him any mind."

"I know." Yuuya was about to nod when he got a good look at the suited man's ear; it was pointed. Yuuya's gut filled with a little bit of dread, there was only one person he knew that had black hair and pointed ears.

"Yuuya-san, are you alright?" The barkeep asked him.

At the word 'Yuuya' the black suited man's pointy ear twitched. Slowly the man pulled himself back up into a proper sitting position and turned and faced Yuuya. There were no longer any doubts, now that Yuuya could see his face, that he was sitting next to his son, Hiruma Youichi. Said son was currently glaring something fierce and was pissed drunk, Yuuya sincerely hoped he'd be able to get home today fairly free of injury.

"Youichi." Yuuya acknowledged his son.

"Take me fucking home." Youichi demanded.

"Pardon?" Yuuya blinked, not expecting that.

"I'm _fucking_ drunk, take me home." Youichi growled. Yuuya didn't need to be told twice. He set his drink down.

"Put it all on my tab." Yuuya told he surprised barkeep as he stood up. Youichi stood up and stumbled around, as was expected of someone who was drunk off his ass. Yuuya carefully watched his son make his way out onto the street. They walked about a block when Youichi stopped in front of a car.

"That's the fucking car." Youichi announced as he pulled out the keys and shoved them in his father's hand. Yuuya unlocked the car and got inside. Youichi got in the passenger's seat, still glaring at anything in front of him.

"…Are you still where I last left you?" Yuuya asked, not starting the car until he knew where he was trying to drive.

"Yeah." Youichi answered, it came out more as an affirmative grunt. Yuuya started the engine and drove them to Youichi's apartment. Once inside the parking garage Youichi muttered a space number and Yuuya obligingly pulled the car into it. Both men got out of the car and Yuuya locked it.

"…Here are your keys." Yuuya held out the car keys. Youichi snatched them without much effort and began to make his way across the parking garage. Not knowing what else to do, Yuuya followed his son. Youichi led them to an elevator that took them up to the floor he lived on.

"…Something happened." Yuuya remarked as he observed his son glaring at inanimate objects instead of himself. The fact that Youichi had found something to be pissed about more than his shitty relationship with Yuuya was a remarkable feat.

"Fucking hag bribed the jury." Youichi hissed.

Yuuya didn't comment, he had held himself to the promise that he would not interfere with his son's life after Youichi agreed to the arranged marriage. The last time he had seen Youichi was at the hospital the day after Emiko had been born.

"Fucking hag!" Youichi punched the elevator wall, denting it in his anger. Yuuya was startled by his son's strength and by the suddenness of the punch.

"…Where's Emiko-chan?" Yuuya asked, faintly wondering if his grandchild was somehow involved.

"Fucking hag took her away…." Youichi hissed, his body starting to shake with unshed tears.

Yuuya wasn't stupid, it didn't take him long to figure out what had happened. Saburo had gotten into a custody battle with Youichi over Emiko. She must have won, but only by cheating it seemed.

The chime told them they arrived at the right floor. Yuuya followed his son out into the hall, thoughtful. If there was one thing Youichi really did sincerely care about, it was his daughter. Yuuya knew Saburo's husband extremely well, they were business partners after all. One of the few things that Yuuya knew about Saburo's wife, mainly through her husband's griping, was that she wanted everything just so. And with Saburo bedridden, there was no one to tell her life couldn't be just so.

That included taking her grandchild away from her father so that the girl's life would be just so.

"…Are you going to do something about it?" Yuuya asked as Youichi fumbled with his keys. Choosing not to respond in favor of getting the fucking key in the fucking lock, Youichi continued to try and open his door. After a few minutes the door finally opened and Youichi walked inside. With some serious hesitation and probably against his better judgement, Yuuya followed his son.

"Fuck yeah." Youichi finally answered as he threw himself onto the couch, not having bothered to take his shoes off. Yuuya shut the door and took his shoes off then walked into the living room. The floor had a few stuffed animals and a tea set scattered across the floor. There was a decently large TV against one wall with a large video and DVD catalogue on its left. It did not surprise Yuuya how many football related movies his son owned.

Youichi had outfitted his living room with three simple pieces of furiniture, a couch, a coffee table, and a large fat chair that currently housed a football rather than a person. The walls were covered with pictures of Chizue, Youichi, and Emiko all three smiling for various reasons. On the coffee table sat an opened photo album which currently had pictures of Youichi smiling like a fool while he hugged his smiling daughter from behind.

"What are you planning?" Yuuya asked.

"To wait till I'm more fucking sober." Youichi announced.

"…Can I watch the trial?" Yuuya asked as he eyed the laptop on the coffee table.

"Number 330485-D671." Youichi answered as he got up and stumbled into the kitchen. Yuuya assumed his son was just making some coffee to sober up a little. With practiced movements, Yuuya turned on the laptop and began hacking into the government's files. Within about 15 minutes, Yuuya had the trial playing over the internet.

Youichi had made a solid case and Saburo had made a fool of herself. Yuuya, like the rest of the courtroom, thought that Youichi had won the suit. The jury, which looked nervous, was made up of old women and they proclaimed that they thought custody should go to Saburo.

The judge's frown said enough, there was something there that stunk. Something extremely unfair and no one made a move to protest. Youichi himself had simply stared, his expression one of complete disbelief. Yuuya closed the video and the laptop and waited for his son to reappear. Youichi handed him a mug of steaming black coffee and Yuuya took it, feeling bitter inside.

"…Let me know if you need help." Yuuya told his son as he drank his coffee.

"You fucking help?" Youichi raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Where the fuck was that help earlier!?"

"…There isn't an answer to that question that either of us want to hear." Yuuya reminded his son. "My cell number hasn't changed, you can call me if you need me."

With two quick gulps, Yuuya finished his coffee and began to leave the apartment. The man stopped in the doorway before he put his shoes on. Youichi followed him, watching his father wearily.

"…Emiko deserves you," Yuuya told his son, "because you're a real father."

Youichi turned away and did not watch his father leave. He walked back into his bedroom and pushed his wardrobe to the left. The wall revealed that it had a safe installed into it. With practiced ease, Youichi opened the safe and pulled out the one thing inside it: a dusty black notebook with a cream colored bat on the top.

"I know I promised you that I wouldn't use this again," Youichi talked to the picture of Chizue behind him, "but it's for Emiko's sake. You would have wanted what was best for her."

The safe shut with a very final sounding clang.

_=_=_=_=_

I had to go first names to differentiate the Hirumas this chapter. Let me know what you think.


	6. 5: Wonderful

Author's Note: Picking a song took forever!

Song: Wonderful is by Everclear, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 5: Wonderful

"Isn't this wonderful!?" Saburo asked Emiko as she led the little girl into her home. "You get to spend everyday with me and Grandpa!"

"What about Papa?" Emiko asked, her big eyes full of worry. "I'll see Papa again, right?"

"That demon?" Saburo frowned. "Heavens no! He's been nothing but bad for you! We saved you from him!"

"But I love Papa!" Emiko protested.

"Nonsense!" Saburo grabbed Emiko's wrist and drug her into the house. "You'll be much happier here, now come on, Grandma bought you some nice dresses."

The dresses looked nice, but they itched and restricted Emiko's movement. Emiko didn't like the dresses, but she knew better than to voice this opinion. Grandma spanked her for being 'ungrateful' the last time she had done such a thing. Saburo had shown Emiko her new room, her new toys, and her new life. The toys were nice, but they weren't the kind Emiko wanted. She wasn't interested in dress up dolls, she would have rather had animal plushies and a football.

There were some picture books in her new room, Emiko immediately went over to them, looking desperately for something by 'Dr. Seuss' or a book like 'The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish' or even 'Goodnight Moon'. Saburo had filled the bookshelf with titles like 'Barbie's First Job' and other simple, yet stupid and generic titles. The pictures were simple and the colors were boring. Emiko put the books away, disappointed.

"Which one do you want to read?" Saburo asked her granddaughter after the girl had gone through every book on the shelf.

"…I don't want to read right now." Emiko admitted. "…I want to go to the park."

"You went through all the books and you don't want to read?" Saburo was confused.

"I wanted to see what there was." Emiko answered truthfully.

"Nothing there is good enough?" Saburo frowned, not liking how this situation was developing.

"No!" Emiko cried, cringing away from the hit she thought was coming. "I just looked at all the pictures, I don't want to see them again right now."

"…I see." Saburo gave Emiko a distasteful look, but made no move to physically discipline the trembling child.

"I-I'll go play with my new dollies." Emiko announced, crawling away from her grandmother to pick up the nearest doll. She held it in her hands, flipping it over and upside down, committing every inch of the doll to memory. The doll was plastic, baby-shaped, and was currently dressed in a pink dress. The doll wasn't one of those with blinking blue eyes, it had them painted permanently open instead. It was a blond haired child and had very western looking features.

Emiko could feel Saburo's critical gaze on her back. Carefully, she held up the doll by its arm pits and looked at it's frozen neutral expression.

"You need a name." Emiko told the doll, feeling really ridiculous.

"…Do you like 'Ting'?" Emiko asked the doll as she made it shake side to side. "Because I like 'Ting'."

"Her name is Candy." Saburo informed her granddaughter, using the western name that must have belonged to the western product.

"Candy then." Emiko nodded. "Do all of them have names already?"

"Why yes!" Saburo sat down and told Emiko the names of all her dolls.

Now Emiko really didn't want to play with them, they were not just overly-realistic looking dolls, they had nothing about them in common with Emiko. The more her Grandmother showed her, the more Emiko felt that her life was under someone else's control.

"Now I'm going to make dinner, why don't you go wash up?" It wasn't a request even through Saburo made it sound like one. Obligingly, Emiko went into the nearby bathroom and washed her hands with the Hello Kitty soap that made them feel dry. Emiko used the pink towel with her name embroidered on it and hoped that her Grandma wouldn't get mad about it. Last time she came her, using the wrong towel resulted in spanking.

Almost everything at Grandma's house resulted in spanking sooner or later.

Emiko sighed and steeled herself for a long meal.

"I want Papa…." Emiko muttered mournfully, upset she wasn't going to see her father again.

**-With Hiruma, at his apartment-**

Back in high school and college he had called it the 'Devil's Handbook'. Chizue had called it 'Overkill', 'Unfair', or 'Unnecessary' depending on the occasion of use. Others had called it 'Hiruma's Book' or 'Threat Notebook' depending on their relation to the book's use. Some people were so afraid of the book, they'd scream in fear and piss their pants at the sight of it.

The contents of the book were simple enough, they were people's personal secrets often with photo evidence. Hiruma had had more than one occasion in which he had to hide himself and the book to protect them both from mob bosses. Having the book in his possession usually gave him an edge over others, allowing him to manipulate them with ease. All in all, Hiruma had gotten more than his money's worth out of the book.

Of course the one time using the book had gotten him into real trouble had been the last time he had used it. Apparently blackmailing the cop was a bad choice, because the man had chosen to beat Hiruma senseless, then maul him with a bat and claim it had been done by some drunks he had arrested earlier that evening.

Since it had taken Hiruma two days to wake up from the concussion, no one had made any moves to contradict the cop. Somehow the notebook had not fallen out of his possession, but Hiruma was sure the cop had a good look inside it during the two days he was unconscious. Chizue had been there when he woke, six months pregnant and pissed.

_"You are such an idiot!" Chizue hissed at him, glaring._

_"Ungh?" Hiruma's body was one big bruise, talking wasn't an easy task at this time._

_"You're about to become a father, Youichi!" Chizue was almost crying, pointing at her swollen belly. "You should think of the baby!"_

_"Baby?" Hiruma blinked tiredly. "Aren't we putting it up for adoption?"_

_"That doesn't mean our child should be living with your enemies!" Chizue snapped. "This baby doesn't deserve a life tied up in all the shit you've gotten yourself into, Youichi!"_

At the time Hiruma had not been able to respond with words, instead he responded with actions. Chizue was the only witness to the final closing of the Devil's Handbook. Hiruma stopped talking to his slaves and carrying the book on his person. Chizue had approved of this and often reminded him how happy it had made her.

_'She knew she was going to die,'_ Hiruma recalled to himself as he fingered the book, _'and she knew I would want to take care of Emiko once she was born. Fucking mothers always know.'_

Hiruma had decided he'd use the book if that's what he had to do to get his daughter back, but his promise to Chizue made him hesitate. Fucking hesitation only got you into trouble during a game, Hiruma should have opened the book two minutes ago.

A small whimper made the man stand up in his chair, full of adrenaline. Carefully looking around for the source of the noise, Hiruma found the small puppy he had purchased a few days ago. It was a brown dog, with big brown eyes. Upon his impulsive decision to enter the pet shop, Hiruma had felt the dog's knowing gaze on his back. The same knowing gaze Chizue would give him then say nothing whether or not Hiruma had been trying to hide anything. Hiruma had walked over to the dog to give it a better inspection. The dog's eyes reminded him of Chizue. When Hiruma had stuck his hand in the cage to let the dog sniff it, she had just walked up and licked his hand once, not unlike the small comfort Chizue would give him without asking.

Hiruma found himself the owner of a puppy that he named after his dead wife.

To justify buying said dog, Hiruma had planned to give it to Emiko after the trial was over, since his daughter had repetitively expressed being lonely when he was not around. Having an animal companion should help with that. Besides, Hiruma had had a dog growing up and there was no reason Emiko shouldn't either. In order to keep the dog a surprise for his daughter, Hiruma had arranged with the owner of the pet shop to have the owner keep the dog for a little while longer, so that Hiruma could pick it up after the trail and have it as a surprise for when Emiko came home from school.

But with the way the trail went, Emiko would not be coming home from school ever again.

"You're hungry." Hiruma remarked dryly, giving the dog an annoyed look. "At least you don't piddle on the floor."

With a sigh, Hiruma lifted himself from the chair and proceeded to pour the basic dog food into a dish for the puppy. Chizue was a very well behaved dog, despite the fact she had been purchased at a pet shop. Hiruma knelt down next to the dog as she ate and petted her back slightly.

"If you really were Chizue, I bet you would be telling me to come up with a more creative solution about now." Hiruma sighed, recalling Chizue's frown. The two of them had an understanding and honestly wanted what was best for their daughter.

Hiruma stood up and started working on the neglected dishes. He did not hum nor did he smile. At this point dishes were a chore and nothing more. There was no longer an Emiko beside him to play with the bubbles. There was no longer the pitter-patter of feet as a little girl made herself busy around the kitchen as she cleaned the table or told him how her day was.

The apartment was empty and lonely, all the happiness inside it having left with Emiko.

"Fucking hag!" Hiruma hissed, glaring at an imaginary Saburo. He relaxed his gaze and found himself staring at the flower wrapping paper he had purchased a year ago. Hiruma had gotten it out two weeks ago to remind himself to wrap the birthday present he had gotten for his daughter.

"…Birthday present?" Hiruma muttered his tactical mind spinning up new ideas.

"The law says nothing about a father visiting his daughter at school to give her a birthday present, does it?" Hiruma smirked, his mind already coming up with even more ideas.

No, he did not have to open the book.

Not yet anyways.

_=_=_=_=_

Tell me what you think.


	7. 6: Closer To You

Author's Note: Figuring out a chapter title for this one was hard. And waiting for to actually allow me to update was an event in and of itself.

Song: Closer To You is by The Wallflowers, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 6: Closer To You

Anezaki sighed as she walked out of the house. Eariler, Anezaki had decided to pay the Saburo family a home visit because of the change in Emiko's behavior. The girl was extremely isolated now, refusing to talk to anyone about anything. She spent all of recess in remote corners of the playground crying. The other children had felt a little guilty for Emiko's crying had tried to talk to her.

Emiko hadn't responded.

This left Anezaki with no choice but to make a home visit. Emiko had recently had a change of address and was living with her Grandparents, which made Anezaki slightly suspicious. Anezaki hadn't seen Emiko the entire time she talked to Saburo about the girl's behavior, but she had seen enough of the inside of the house to know that Emiko didn't have a place in that house.

Anezaki's first clue had been the lack of toys. There were adult things casually laying about, like a purse here, a hat there, some knitting there, but no child's things. There were no scattered shoes, no hand prints on the walls, no half-started artwork on the floor. Beyond the occasional picture of Emiko on the walls or in frames on the tables, Anezaki wouldn't have thought the girl existed in these people's life. The other clue Anezaki had was that Emiko had not made any presence during her meeting with Saburo, despite the woman's insistence that Emiko was upstairs in her room. There were no creaks or bangs that are associated with a child playing. The silence that came from the upstairs said enough.

The inquiry about Emiko's father had yielded even more suspicions. Apparently the man was raising Emiko by himself and doing a horrible job of it, so Saburo, having been concerned about her granddaughter's welfare, had took him to court with a custody suit. Having won the case, Saburo had promptly moved her granddaughter here where she could grow up properly. Anezaki had then asked what exactly it was that Emiko's father had been doing wrong. Saburo had been extremely curt with her answer: everything.

It didn't take much reflection for Anezaki to realize that Emiko's father had probably been doing a better job than anyone appreciated. That man, whoever he was, had been doing more things right than Saburo was. Emiko had been much happier when living with her father, much less burdened and fearful like she was now.

_'Who is Emiko's father anyways?'_ Anezaki couldn't help but to wonder. The one truly important thing Anezaki had learned on this trip was that Emiko's mother, Saburo Chizue, had died giving birth to her daughter.

"Saburo Chizue?" Anezaki stopped walking, recalling having heard the name from somewhere before. After some long thought she had recalled hearing it from Takekura Gen, an old friend from high school. Pulling out her cell phone, Anezaki started sorting through her contact list, finding Takekura's number without much difficulty.

_"Hello?"_ Takekura greeted Anezaki over the sounds of machinery.

"Hello, Musashi." Anezaki chose to use Takekura's nickname so that he'd know it was her. "It's been a while."

_"Indeed,"_ Takekura agreed, _"but I'm on the job right now, can you make it quick?"_

"Yeah, I've just got a quick question." Anezaki assured him.

_"Let's hear it."_ One could hear the small grin in Takekura's voice, he was a man that took great pleasure in helping others.

"I was wondering who Saburo Chizue was," Anezaki admitted, "I remembered hearing you saying that name a while back and just recently came across it…."

_"Saburo Chizue?"_ Takekura sounded mildly surprised. _"That was the name of the lady who had been officially renting the place we thought Hiruma had been living at, remember?"_

Anezaki did remember. She did remember how all of her friends had stood there, feeling betrayed when they heard that Hiruma had not actually been living at the apartment they had recalled visiting him at. Upon looking around the apartment there was no trace that Hiruma had been living there, which was odd because there were plenty of traces that this Saburo Chizue had been living there, everything from photographs to grocery lists. If it hadn't been for the leak Takekura had plastered up for Hiruma, everyone would have sworn they had been at the wrong place.

"Ah thank you." Anezaki nodded even though Takekura could not see her.

_"I can't talk much right now,"_ Takekura reminded Anezaki, _"but I want to catch up with you, when can I call you?"_

"How's about this Friday after six?" Anezaki suggested.

_"That works for me, I'll see you then."_ Takekura bid her his goodbye.

"See you then." Anezaki hung up as her mind began to mull over all the facts. Saburo Haruka had a daughter named Saburo Chizue who died giving birth to her daughter, Emiko. Almost years ago, to the day, Hiruma Youichi, an old high school friend, disappeared. The apartment Hiruma had been living at, that Anezaki had set foot in more than once, had been officially rented to Saburo Chizue. The landlord had remarked that Saburo Chizue had recently passed away at the time. Emiko was almost six years old. Emiko had pointy ears and a familiar smile….

_'Could it be?'_ Anezaki stopped, her eyes opened wide. She didn't have enough proof yet, Hiruma hadn't been married last she checked and Saburo Chizue had been married. Hiruma, at least as she last recalled him, wouldn't have made good father material and didn't plan on becoming on anytime soon, why would get some woman pregnant and not tell anyone, surely he would have panicked at some point.

Anezaki shook her head and went home for the day. Tomorrow she'd have to start doing something about getting Emiko to open up, that was by far the most pressing issue Anezaki was dealing with at the moment.

**-The Next Day, Anezaki's Classroom-**

"Emiko-chan," Anezaki asked the girl after she had taken roll, "isn't today your birthday?"

"Mm." The noise Emiko made was too vague to tell whether or not the girl was agreeing. Anezaki took it as a yes.

"Is there any games you want to play today?" Anezaki asked the girl, who was currently staring blankly at her desk.

"Nm."

"Emiko-chan?" Anezaki knelt down and tried to looked Emiko in the eye. Emiko wasn't focusing on anything, she looked numb and disconnected.

"Stop right there!" One of the office ladies screeched from the hall, startling everyone except for Emiko. The sound of stomping footsteps came down the hall quickly.

"You're not allowed back here, sir!" The office lady scolded the quiet persons she was chasing after. Anezaki stood up and walked over to the door, trying to see what was causing the commotion. Her classroom door opened in front of her to reveal someone she hadn't seen in six years. Hiruma Youichi was standing in front of the doorway to her classroom, looking down the hall at the office lady.

"I'm just delivering my daughter's birthday present." Hiruma calmly told the spazing office lady. He was wearing a nice black suit, with a green shirt that punched up his emerald eyes. The four hoops in his ears had been replaced with discreet flesh-toned studs. Hiruma had grown out his bleach blond hair, allowing it return to its original black color. Under his right arm, in a grip that reminded Anezaki of how one properly carried a football when running, was a present wrapped carefully in flower wrapping paper.

"Sir, you are disrupting the class, you must leave now!" The office woman yelled at him. Hiruma was completely unphased by the yelling.

"…Papa?" Emiko asked in a small, hopeful voice. She had gotten out of her chair when she heard the familiar voice and was now standing at Anezaki's side, looking up at her father.

Hiruma turned his head to talk to his daughter and saw Anezaki standing there for the first time. He stared at her, shocked beyond belief to see her standing there.

"Hiruma-kun." Anezaki almost whispered, her voice breathless.

_=_=_=_=_

The reunion has finally happened! Tell me what you think.


	8. 7: Be My Escape

Author's Note: First off, this chapter takes place in the past. Also, I have Hiruma and his father in the same chapter and same room, along with all three Saburos, so everyone's going by first name to differentiate.

Song: I don't own Be My Escape by Relient K.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 7: Be My Escape

Yuuya was sitting with Saburo Teru, his old friend and business partner. Teru was bald, wrinkled and looked frail with dull brown eyes. It turned out that Teru had gotten cancer, not too surprising at his age, and had just recently begun his chemo therapy. The result was that the once fit and athletic man was transformed into this ragged shadow of his old self.

"You look terrible." Yuuya told the man sympathetically.

"They tell me if all goes well, I'll be back up and at it within four years." Teru gave his friend a small smile.

"I hope that comes to pass." Yuuya was sincere.

"Me too, but the reason I called you here was to discuss what happens if all does not go well." Teru was deadly serious. "Four years is more than enough time for something to go wrong."

"...What's your plan?" Yuuya asked, getting serious himself.

"As it stands, my daughter stands to inherit my business," Teru explained, "but you and both know how sickly she is."

"Yes." Yuuya nodded. Chizue had to have a heart transplant as a young child and as a result spent her days living on immune-system repressive medication to keep herself alive. This of course meant that she got sick easily. Chizue's lack of good health was a concern for her parents especially because she was their only child.

"She's 26 now and unmarried," Teru went on, "I want to her to marry soon so that there can be someone can take care of the business should the worst happen."

"I understand, but what does this marriage have to do with me?" Yuuya couldn't help but to wonder.

"Your son, Youichi is 27 now right?" Teru waited for Yuuya's hesitant nod, "he struck me as a responsible boy. I think it would be a good match."

"…I see." Yuuya rubbed his temples slowly, a headache already starting. Youichi was difficult to deal with at the best of times for Yuuya, telling his son to enter an arranged marriage wasn't going to work.

"Are you alright?" Teru asked, concerned.

"Youichi and I have had a few… misunderstandings in the past. I think it would be best if I talked to him about this proposal of yours before either of us commit to anything." Yuuya phrased his sentences carefully.

"I understand. I already spoke with Chizue about it and she said she wants to meet your son before she commits to anything." Teru admitted.

"I'll call you after I've spoken to my son about this." Yuuya told his friend. "Hopefully Youichi will be open to the idea."

**-two days later, at a restaurant-**

Youichi sat in the truck with his friends Takekura and Kurita. Takekura's hair looked pretty interesting as he was in the process of growing out the rest of his hair to have its length match that of his Mohawk. Kurita was a big, fat man, with a warm welcoming face. Kurita had round features and his hair was slicked up into a point (this made his head look kind of like a chestnut).

The truck the three old friends were sitting in was parked outside a restaurant that Youichi had been told to meet his father at. Because of the tension in the relationship between Youichi and his father, Kurita and Takekura had insisted on coming along as moral support. Youichi hadn't been fond of the idea in the first place, but then Takekura offered him a ride in his truck. Youichi was unable to say no to a ride to a remote part of town that was pretty far off the bus line.

Youichi glanced in the side mirror on the car and saw his father walking up the street. Youichi's frown deepened. Takekura noticed the man in the mirror and the expression on Youichi's face; it wasn't hard to put the facts together.

"He's here?" Takekura asked, breaking the silence. Youichi grunted.

"Do you want us to wait for you?" Kurita asked, knowing that exactly what the grunt meant.

"…I'll call you if I need your help, fatty." Youichi told his friend as he unbuckled his seatbelt slowly.

"We'll stay in the neighborhood." Takekura assured Youichi as he got out of the car. Youichi nodded once and shut the door. Takekura started the engine and drove the truck two blocks away to a near by park and parked it there.

Youichi watched his friends drive away for a little bit, then took a deep breath and walked into the restaurant. After sweeping his eyes over the interior of the restaurant, Youichi decided it wasn't a fancy place. The seating consisted of a sushi bar and a few booths that looked used but not abused. A waitress in a blue uniform walked up and greeted him.

"Just you, sir?" The waitress asked him simply.

"…I'm meeting with someone." Youichi remarked after a moment. "We'll sit at the bar.

"Then take any seat you like." The waitress pointed Youichi to the bar with a flourished gesture. Youichi nodded to her and took a seat on the end and waited for his father. The man came in two minutes later and sat down next to his son.

"You wanted to talk to me." Youichi remarked neutrally not looking up from his menu.

"I did," Yuuya admitted, "and I would really appreciate it if you would hear me out."

Youichi looked up from his menu and raised a dubious eyebrow at his father.

"I'm sure that you recall my business partner, Saburo Teru," Yuuya began and waited for Youichi's robotic nod before he continued, "his health has been failing as of late."

"Cancer." Youichi remarked, having heard that bit of news elsewhere already.

"Yes, cancer." Yuuya agreed, deciding not to ask his son where he had learned that. "His daughter doesn't have that great a bill of health either."

"Heart transplant." Youichi nodded once.

"Saburo-san wants to marry her to you." Yuuya held up a hand to stop the protest he knew was coming. "His daughter isn't entirely open to the idea and would like to meet you first."

"I'm not getting married because you told me so." Youichi glared at his father.

"…I have a proposal for you." Yuuya confessed after a long moment.

"Talk." Youichi ordered.

"If you marry her, I'll stop being in your life on one condition." Yuuya held up one finger to make his point clear. "If I have any grandchildren, I would like to know and see them at least once."

"That's it? I marry this girl and you never say another word to me?" Youichi blinked having not expected that.

"…You don't have to commit to anything right now, I'm sure you'd like to meet the girl first." Yuuya pointed out. "When is a good time for you?"

Youichi didn't answer right away. He picked up a napkin and wrote some days and times on it and handed it to his father.

"Call me." Youichi told Yuuya and left. Feeling unsure and slightly unclean, Youichi decided to walk through the near by park to cool his head and decide to do. Takekura and Kurita came up behind him and stepped in stride with him silently. Youichi was quietly grateful for their support, presence, and silence. After a few more minutes Youichi turned and made eye-contact with both of his friends. They nodded and led the way to the truck.

The drive home was in silence that was neither awkward nor forced.

**-later, outside the Saburo residence-**

Youichi looked at the building feeling a little dirty. If he walked across that threshold, it would be admitting that he was low enough a creature to marry for the sake of convenience. At the same time a large part of him wanted to finally cut the lingering strings that tied his fate to his father.

With a grimace, Youichi stepped across the threshold, his choice made. Entering the house he found himself going through the polite greeting gestures and motions until he was sat down at a table next to his father.

Across from him was an empty seat that was to be occupied by this Saburo Chizue, a woman whom he had never met nor had any information on. Saburo Teru and Saburo Haruka sat on either side of the empty chair, waiting for their daughter.

Youichi swallowed hard when he felt the emptiness on his left. His mother would have wanted to be here, that Youichi knew. It seemed unfair to be arranging a marriage without her.

"Hiruma-san, where is your wife?" Haruka asked innocently.

"She passed away several years ago." Yuuya answered simply, his tone flat. Youichi simply nodded in agreement once.

"I'm sorry." Haruka bowed a little in her apology. Yuuya and Youichi choose not to comment.

Chizue entered the room, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the four of them. She walked in and carefully sat down, looking at Yuuya and Youichi somewhat nervously.

_'She's hiding something.'_ Youichi observed dully.

"I'm glad you finally joined us, Chizue-chan." Teru remarked with a chuckle. "Aren't you going to greet them?"

"…H-hello." Chizue bowed a little, her timidness reminding Hiruma of one of his high school friends, Kobayakawa Sena. The thought of that almost destroyed Youichi's calm mask, because it was unbelievable that there was someone as timid as Kobayakawa.

"Nice to meet you Saburo-chan." Youichi bowed his head a little in greeting. Carefully Youichi looked the woman across from him up and down. She seemed to be fairly strong, not something he had expected. She carried herself like she didn't have even a third of the strength her muscles told him she had.

"Nice to meet you too, Hiruma-kun." Chizue bowed her head, looking a little flustered. Maybe the nervousness from earlier was just nerves. The group fell right back into silence.

"Hiruma-kun, what is it you currently do for a living?" Teru asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"I'm a finical advisor for Takekura Construction Company." Youichi answered simply.

"How'd you get that job?" Harkua asked, mildly surprised. Takekura Construction Co. was well known as the current leader in environmentally friendly and economic buildings in all of Japan. It was a very profitable business and had an extremely popular company football team.

"Takekura-sama and I went to school together," Youichi admitted, "we've been friends for a long time. When we got out of school, he took over his father's business and asked me to work for him."

"So are you the one to blame for their success?" Teru asked with a small, approving grin.

"The success of the company was a victory won with team effort, not the work of a handful of individuals." Youichi answered simply. "Everyone is important and plays their part."

"T-that's kind of cool." Chizue remarked, sounding awkward.

"What is it you do?" Youichi asked Chizue, feigning both interest and curiosity.

"Just a secretary." Chizue answered, looking down, not being able to meet Youichi's eyes.

"I see." Youichi nodded and made no move to continue that conversation.

"What do you think?" Haruka blurted out, startling everyone present.

"…I think I would like to talk to your daughter," Youichi paused and met Haruka's eyes, "in private if that is okay."

"Ah! Yes!" The parents left en mass, leaving Youichi and Chizue in silence.

"…I have a confession." Chizue muttered in a small voice.

"Hm?" Youichi was mildly surprised.

"If I married you, it would be for selfish reasons." Chizue explained nervously.

"Same here." Youichi told her, stunning her. "What benefit do you get from this marriage?"

"…My mother off my back." Chizue answered simply. "Yourself?"

"That bastard out of my life." Youichi answered just as simply.

"…Now what?" Chizue muttered, sounding a little uncertain.

"We could get married, live in the same house and live separate lives without drawing any attention to the marriage. Get divorced if one of us actually finds a real life partner. And reap the benefits of being married." Youichi remarked casually. "Or we could call it off and continue as we have before."

"…And that is okay with you?" Chizue met Youichi's eyes with a remarkably piercing gaze.

"As long as we continue to have this understanding, I don't see any problems." Youichi remarked truthfully.

"So we're just using one another because it's most convenient for the two of us at this time?" Chizue phrased her question slowly, wanting to be sure she really did understand what was happening.

"Yeah." Youichi nodded once.

"I think I can be okay with that." Chizue admitted.

"There's a catch." Youichi warned her.

"There always is a catch, what is it?" Chizue rolled her eyes slightly.

"No kids." Youichi was deadly serious.

"Deal."

_=_=_=_=_

An arranged marriage in which both parties did it for the sake of getting parents off their backs and out of their lives. Kind of a strange thought, tell me what you think.


	9. 8: Walk Unafraid

Author's Note: This chapter didn't want to come out. I managed to get it where I wanted it, took me several extra days. So here's your late update.

Song: Walk Unafraid is by REM, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 8: Walk Unafraid

Emiko blinked, very confused. First thing was that Papa came to school, Papa never comes to school. And the bad men and Grandma told Emiko that she would never see Papa again, but here she was looking at him. Why was Papa dressed all nice? Did he come from work? Did Anezaki-sensei know her Papa, how'd she meet him?

Why were they staring at each other and not saying anything?

"Papa?" Emiko asked, trying to make her confusion evident. Hiruma snapped out of his stunned stupor and knelt down to be closer to his daughter. Without realizing it, a large smile had taken over his face, stunning Anezaki further. She had seen Hiruma smile honestly on a small handful of occasions in the entire time she had known him.

And Anezaki had known Hiruma a very long time.

"Here." Hiruma handed Emiko her present. The young girl took it carefully out of his hands and frowned.

"Why?" Emiko asked him, still confused. Why did Papa come to school? Why couldn't he have given her this at Grandma's? Why did she have to live at Grandma's?

"…It's really complicated." Hiruma told her truthfully, guessing that Emiko had more than one why when she asked her question. "I don't have time to explain everything right now, but it's not forever, okay?"

"…Okay." Emiko nodded, not liking the sound of her Papa's sad tone. The bad men must have done something really mean to Papa!

Hiruma stood up and looked Anezaki in the eye and bowed curtly.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance." Hiruma told her and proceeded to turn on his heel to leave, much to the relief of the office lady. Anezaki reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping Hiruma before he could get too far.

"We need to talk." Anezaki told him firmly, making sure to use every trick she had learned dealing with children and their parents over the years to keep Hiruma from suddenly getting an upper hand in the conversation.

Hiruma only raised an eyebrow at her.

"We dismiss at 1:30, you will be outside the main gate at 1:45." Anezaki kept her firm tone in place and schooled her expression into one that left no room for argument.

"About what?" Hiruma's eyebrow did not fall and he fought to keep his tone neutral. A slight paranoid panic was currently filling Hiruma, he was worried all the sacrifices he had made were all going to be in vain. The last six years of detachment had been for Emiko's sake, Anezaki was jeopardizing all of that.

"Hiruma Emiko," Anezaki stated the girl's full name out loud for the first time, "your daughter."

Hiruma blinked with a frown, not liking the hidden meanings behind Anezaki's words. Anezaki let go of his arm and turned to Emiko.

"Come on Emiko-chan, we need to go back to class now and your Papa needs to get back to work." Anezaki set a gentile hand on Emiko's shoulder.

"Come back soon, Papa!" Emiko called to her dad, not bothering to mask how distressed she was at the thought of her Papa being away. Hiruma mustered up a small smile and waved to his daughter as she retreated back into the school room. Anezaki gave him one last glance before shutting the door.

"Are you satisfied now, sir?" The office woman growled.

"Yeah." Hiruma found walking away from the classroom door very difficult. Each step felt like he was betraying his daughter, leaving her in a place where she did not belong. And yet, with each step a new determination rose in Hiruma. He would not be tolerating his daughter staying there any longer.

Everything would be okay when Emiko was home again.

**-1:50, just outside the school gates-**

Against his better judgment, Hiruma had decided to show up at the school gates. For damage control, or for concern about his daughter, Hiruma could not decide which drove him more. Looking ahead at his destination he saw Saburo holding Emiko's hand in a vice-like grip. Emiko was distressed and crying. Saburo was ignoring the child's crying and was instead lecturing Anezaki about something. Green eyes narrowed and feet picked up their pace.

"-to have anymore contact! Is that clear!?" Saburo almost yelled at Anezaki.

"I can't control another person's actions." Anezaki told Saburo simply. "Besides, Hiruma-kun is a friend of mine, if he stops by to see me what am I to say?"

"He's a horrible-!" Saburo probably would have gone quiet the rant if there wasn't polite coughing to her left.

"In most societies it's considered extremely rude to say bad things about a person in their presence." Hiruma commented casually.

"Papa!" Emiko wailed trying to reach out and touch him. Saburo swept her granddaughter up into her arms and glared at Hiruma.

"You shouldn't associate with him." Saburo advised Anezaki and then walked away, carrying the screaming and kicking Emiko all the while.

"…Part of me sincerely wants her to get arrested for kidnapping." Hiruma muttered as he glared at the old woman.

Anezaki chose not to respond and turned to the nearby trashcan. She reached inside and pulled out a fairly large lion plushie. Hiruma took one look at the toy and recognized it as the gift he had given Emiko for her birthday. When Anezaki offered him the plushie, Hiruma wordlessly took it from her. He carefully set the plushie in the crook of his arm, again reminding Anezaki of how one carried a football.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Hiruma asked her after a minute, not having been enjoying the silence.

"How the hell did you lose the custody case?!" Anezaki blabbered, distressed.

"I played by the rules and paid for it." Hiruma answered cryptically. Anezaki knew enough about Saburo to correctly assume that the woman had cheated in some way.

"…How had Emiko been?" Hiruma asked, worry unconsciously filling his voice.

"Emiko-chan is really depressed now." Anezaki admitted. "And she dreads going home at the end of the day, I don't think that she's in a good place right now."

"She isn't." Hiruma agreed without any hesitation.

"You're going to do something about it, aren't you?" Anezaki recognized the look on Hiruma's face; he looked like he was plotting football strategies, the kind that only spelled bad news for the opponent.

"What do you think?" Hiruma gave her a flat look.

"You shouldn't do it alone." Anezaki advised him. Hiruma didn't say anything and instead looked carefully at the plushie in his arms.

"Keep this here." Hiruma told Anezaki as he shoved the plushie back into her arms.

"W-what?" Anezaki was startled by the action.

"Emiko can play with it here." Hiruma answered simply and began walking away.

"Hiruma! Why are you leaving!?" Anezaki protested. "Don't you care about your daughter!?"

Hiruma stopped and shut his eyes. Anezaki presented a door he was afraid to open. He was afraid to return to the way things used to be, afraid to face the friends he abandoned, and afraid of Emiko rejecting him and that way of life. Fears of relying on others who might not pull their weight and the resulting failure also plagued Hiruma's conscience. Failure was not an option for Hiruma, Emiko _had_ to come home come hell or high water.

But at the same time, Hiruma was lonely.

All the man did was shake his head a little and continue on his way.

With a huff Anezaki ran after Hiruma and tackled him, sending both of them crashing onto the unforgiving concrete sidewalk. Being on the bottom, Hiruma had taken the brunt of the fall, bruising both knees and scraping his palms a little.

"What the fuck!?" Hiruma roared at her, angered to be hurt and frustrated that she wouldn't leave him alone.

"Hiruma Youichi," Anezaki sounded like a mother, "you are going to look me in the eye and tell me that you don't want my help or you will let me help you!"

Instead, Hiruma shoved her off of him and met her gaze with a fierce glare.

"You don't understand anything!" Hiruma growled at her as he finished standing up. He then put his injured hands in his pockets and walked away despite the growing pain in his knees. Anezaki watched him retreat wondering what caused the change in her friend.

"What are you afraid of?" Anezaki whispered quietly as she bent down and picked up the lion plushie. Holding the plushie up Anezaki noticed it was really dirty now. Frowning Anezaki wondered if Hiruma's courage had been abused and tried like the tired-looking toy in her hands.

Turning her back on Hiruma, Anezaki walked back to the school. This was far from over.

_=_=_=_=_

This chapter didn't want to come out, let me know what you think.


	10. 9: For You I Will

Author's Note: New character from the show makes an appearance this chapter! And he did not want to be introduced (writing his dialog was proving very difficult last night, I just couldn't find the right tone). But I won in the end.

Song: For You I Will is by Monica, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 9: For You I Will

"I wanna go to the park!" Emiko wailed, not having stopped crying upon arrival at her grandmother's home.

"You ungrateful brat!" Saburo hissed as she pulled Emiko over her knee.

"It's my birthday!" Emiko protested with tears. "I want to go to the park and play on the swings!"

Saburo spanked Emiko several times, ranting about her bad behavior all the while. Emiko continued to cry, extremely upset and in pain. After the spanking was over, Emiko was sent to her room.

"If you keep this up you're not getting any dinner tonight!" Saburo snapped and slammed the door as she left the bedroom. Emiko crawled onto her bed, defeated. She cried onto her pillow, wishing silently for her father.

"…You promised you'd always be here!" Emiko cried quietly. "Why Papa? Why!?"

All her crying and fighting coupled with the emotional ups and downs of the day finally got the best of Emiko. Within moments of not moving on the pillow, the miserable girl shut her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Several hours later, when it was time for dinner, Saburo came upstairs to find Emiko napping. The girl looked worn and exhausted and the sight of that stirred the maternal side of Saburo. She quickly crossed the room and began to undress Emiko. Soon Saburo had her granddaughter in a particularly fluffy nightgown and under the covers of her bed.

"I'm sorry your father had to show up and give you such a long day." Saburo apologized to the sleeping girl, running her wrinkled fingers through Emiko's fine hair. Gingerly, Saburo planted a kiss on the girl's forehead before she left the room.

After the door shut a demonic shadow appeared in the window. A few small squeaks later, the window opened, blowing in a cold breeze. Emiko stirred in her sleep, her face scrunching up unpleasantly. The soft patter of feet touched the wooden floor and crossed it to the bedside.

A long fingered hand, pearly white in the moonlight, reached out and began to stroke Emiko's cheek with practiced ease. At the familiar touch Emiko's eyes shot open, looking up at the face of her father. Emiko let out a sigh of relief, relaxing instantly. Hiruma eased himself carefully onto the bed so that it would not make any abnormal squeaks to alert Saburo.

"Hey birthday girl…." Hiruma whispered with a small smile.

"Papa!" Emiko smiled big and bright. "You came!"

"I promised, didn't I?" Hiruma reminded his daughter. "I've got some good news too."

"I get to go home with you?" Emiko asked. Hiruma frowned slightly.

"Not just yet, I'm doing everything I can to get you back." Hiruma assured his daughter.

"Why can't I go now?" Emiko asked, her pervious confusion returning.

"Because we would both get in a lot of trouble if you came home with me now." Hiruma told her simply.

"Why?" Emiko sounded like she was going to cry.

"…The people who write the rules don't always make fair choices." Hiruma explained. "Right now the rules aren't in our favor, so we have to wait until the next half to turn the game around."

"You're going to change the rules, Papa?" Emiko sounded awed.

"No, I'm going to change the game by playing by the rules." Hiruma corrected his daughter. "Now, Anezaki-sensei said she'd keep your lion for you at school so that you could still play with it."

"Really?" Emiko was really happy to hear that, she had liked the lion a lot.

"Yeah." Hiruma smiled at his daughter. Emiko decided then that Anezaki-sensei was probably a really awesome person because she was on Papa's side.

"…I'll be with you on my next birthday right?" Emiko asked, a little worried.

"Of course!" Hiruma sounded almost offended that Emiko had thought otherwise.

Emiko smiled and then yawned loudly.

"Looks like someone's had a long day," Hiruma observed, "I guess its time for you to back to bed, my sleepyhead."

"But-!" Emiko protested, knowing her Papa probably wouldn't be here in the morning.

"You're growing, you need to rest up and get stronger." Hiruma explained to her softly. "Besides, I'll be back before you know it!"

"Okay. G'night Papa." Emiko shut her eyes and waited for the kiss on the forehead before she fell asleep again. Hiruma laid on the bed next to his daughter for a few more minutes, listening quietly to the sound of her breathing. Carefully Hiruma retreated from the room, taking one last glance at his daughter.

"G'night Emiko." And Hiruma leapt out of the window, into the night.

**-back to 2:00 pm, with Anezaki-**

Anezaki felt somewhat horrible as she dialed the number on her phone. The person she was trying to reach was currently living in Boston, Massachusetts and it would be midnight his time. Anezaki pushed 'talk' and put the phone to her ear and listened to it ring. While she was waiting and hoping for her friend to pick up, she tried to clean up Emiko's lion a little bit more.

Thankfully after four rings someone picked up.

_"Mamori-neechan, why are you calling so late_?" A sleepy male voice inquired on the other end.

"Sena! I need your help with something!" Anezaki was a bundle of energy.

_"Can't it wait till morning? It's midnight here and I have practice early tomorrow…."_ Kobayakawa Sena, Anezaki's childhood friend, did not bother to disguise his loud yawn. Kobayakawa had moved to America to play football in the PAC 10, from there he immigrated properly and was now the star runningback of the New England Patriots. Since football was literally his job, getting sleep and going to practice mattered.

"It's Hiruma-kun!" Anezaki explained simply. "The reason he disappeared six years ago was because of his daughter. And he just lost custody of Emiko and everything's all messed up!"

_"Hiruma-san has a what?"_ You could hear Kobayakawa's confused blink over the long distance line.

"A daughter!" Anezaki clarified. "She's living with his in-laws right now because they took her away from him!"

_"But isn't Hiruma-san missing?"_ Kobayakawa was slowly waking up.

"Well, sort of. You see his daughter is now in my kindergarten class and-" Anezaki stopped herself, realizing that Kobayakawa wasn't awake enough to process all the information she had to give him.

_"Hiruma-san has come back?" _The sleepy Kobayakawa asked.

"I found him again but…" Anezaki swallowed, "I think he's afraid to come back."

_"And he has a daughter now?"_ Kobayakawa sounded a little more aware.

"Yes, she was recently taken away from him though." Anezaki answered. "I want to help the two of them get back together, but I don't know what Hiruma-kun is thinking!"

_"He's afraid of failure."_ Kobayakawa observed. _"Parents can be extremely illogical when it comes to their kids; I think Hiruma-san is afraid of depending on others because they might fail."_

"But didn't he learn to trust us-!" Anezaki protested.

_"Six years is a lot of time to change, for him, for us."_ Kobayakawa ended his sentence with a yawn. _"And becoming a parent really changes your perspective on everything. Hiruma-san might have reverted back to the way he was before he had friends in the six years he's been missing."_

"Ah." Anezaki followed the logic perfectly; she knew it had been a good idea to talk to Kobayakawa about this. "What should I do?"

_"…Have you talked to Musashi or Kurita?"_ Kobayakawa asked.

"Not yet." Anezaki admitted.

_"Work with them for now, they know Hiruma-san best."_ Kobayakawa advised her. _"…I'll try to see if I can get over there by the end of the month."_

"Sena!? Are you sure? It's the middle of your season-!" Anezaki protested.

_"The only thing I can do to help I have to be there in person for."_ Kobayakawa explained. _"Until then I need you to hold down the field until I can get there."_

"But your games-" Anezaki was concerned.

_"They aren't nearly as important as my friends."_ Kobayakawa told her simply. _"Especially Hiruma-san."_ Anezaki heard the unspoken comment. Kobayakawa wouldn't be loving and playing football if it hadn't been for Hiruma. For Kobayakawa, saving the man who gave him football was more important than playing it. Anezaki understood.

"Okay, say hi to Suzuna for me." Anezaki bid Kobayakawa a quick fairwell, knowing he wanted to sleep.

_"Don't give up, Mamori-neechan."_ Kobayakawa wished her and hung up.

_=_=_=_=_

I've brought Sena into the mix now! Tell me what you think!


	11. 10: Easier to Run

Author's Note: This chapter kept on changing its title on me, not to mention I just couldn't properly figure out how to make Hiruma react in this chapter.

Song: Easier to Run is by Linkin Park, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 10: Easier to Run

Anezaki smiled softly as she shut her cell phone, talking to Kobayakawa had been the right choice. He was the only person Anezaki could think of that might understand what Hiruma was thinking, from a parent's perspective anyways. It also helped that Kobayakawa had also been good friends with Hiruma, just not as close as Takekura and Musashi were.

"Anezaki-san, you gave that man a talking to about the disruption today, right?" The office lady from earlier asked, a menacing glint in her eye. Anezaki had walked over to the main office during her small musings.

"…Yeah." Anezaki lied after a moment. "Could you get me Hiruma Emiko's file?"

"Oh, sure sure." The office lady turned to a file cabinet and fiddled around inside one of the drawers before she pulled out the file Anezaki asked for. After a quick read through to make sure that all the papers were inside in proper order, the office lady handed the file to Anezaki.

"It's a bit strange for someone to have a change of address this early in the school year…." The office lady gossiped a bit.

"Thank you." Anezaki bowed and went back to her classroom. Once at her desk she opened up the file and began to examine it carefully. Emiko had all her proper immunizations and spotless health record. There was a small family history that confirmed that she was the daughter of Hiruma Youichi and Saburo Chizue (deceased). Another paper had Emiko's emergency contact information which now told the school to contact Saburo Haruka and a few other random contacts whom Anezaki correctly assumed were Saburo-san's friends. The next page was the one Anezaki had been hoping to find: Hiruma Emiko's void contact information sheet. This sheet listed her old address, Hiruma's home, cell, and work numbers (none of which Anezaki recognized), along with a handful of emergency contacts. Notably Saburo Haruka and Hiruma Yuuya were among the people to contact.

"Didn't Hiruma-kun hate his father?" Anezaki muttered, a little confused by that. The third contact had been Emiko's doctor, which lead Anezaki to assume that Hiruma had simply put down names of people who knew about Emiko's existence as his child.

Anezaki carefully wrote down Hiruma's address and phone numbers, knowing she would need them later. She then carefully examined the rest of Emiko's file to make sure she had not missed anything else potentially useful. There was nothing else interesting in the file, so Anezaki put it away and returned it to the office on her way out of the school building.

Looking around at the street Anezaki wondered what exactly she should do next. Kurtia and Takekura would not be free of work for at least another three hours, so that made contacting them out of the question. Contacting Hiruma after him walking away like that was also out of the question. With a small shake of her head, Anezaki decided there was nothing she could currently do about Emiko's situation.

While Anezaki was cooking dinner another thought struck her: Hiruma Yuuya had been an emergency contact. That mysterious man, whom she had never met, knew something about Emiko. After dinner Anezaki gave the man a call.

_"Hello?"_ A tired, rough male voice asked on the other end.

"Hiruma-san? Hello, this is Anezaki Mamori." Anezaki introduced herself quickly.

_"Why are you calling me?"_ Yuuya asked, sounding annoyed.

"This is about Emiko and your son," Anezaki began, "…I was wondering what you knew about their current situation."

_"How'd you get my number?"_ Yuuya demanded.

"I'm Emiko's teacher, your number was one of the Emiko's emergency contacts." Anezaki answered truthfully.

_"…I promised my son I'd stay out of his life and I have. I don't know anything."_ Yuuya told her and hung up.

Anezaki ended her end of the call with a frown. Yuuya had known something, but had decided not to tell her. With a small sigh Anezaki stared up at the ceiling, wondering if there was anything else she could do. Her hands were messing with her phone absently as she continued to try and figure out what she should tell Takekura and Kurita.

The suddenness of Hiruma's disappearance had left a large hole in the lives of both friends; it made the subject of Hiruma extremely painful. Glancing down at her phone, Anezaki realized she'd been typing a text message to Hiruma's phone. It was just a collection of random letters with no meaning so Anezaki promptly erased the contents.

**'Don't push us away. I'm telling Kurita and Musashi about Emiko.'** Anezaki texted. She didn't get a reply right away, which didn't surprise her. She called Takekura.

_"Hello."_ Takekura greeted her. There was no background noise for him to talk over.

"Musashi, is it possible for Kuirta to join us for dinner tomorrow?" Anezaki asked.

_"I think so, why?"_ Takekura sounded a little confused.

"…I recently got some news and I wanted to share it with both of you." Anezaki explained.

_"Do you mind if we meet at Devie's then?"_ Takekura asked her.

"Not at all." Anezaki smiled, recalling the found memories she had of the restaurant.

_"I'll see you at six then." _Takekura told her.

"See you then." Anezaki hung up.

**-The next day-**

Getting the present from her father had turned something around in Emiko's mind, Anezaki was quick to observe. The little girl seemed to care about school again, about other kids again, and about trying to make friends. Thankfully the severe bout of depression Emiko had had opened the rest of the class up to acknowledging her existence as a person.

"Sorry? I like to play Sorry." Emiko commented to one of the other girls. "It's my favorite."

"But you said Minesweeper is your favorite game!" Nozomi protested. Nozomi was waif of a girl with bushy black hair and enormous box-shaped glasses. She had been the first one to try and reach out to Emiko, even when the girl hadn't been responding.

"Sorry is a game?" Emiko blinked, confused.

"Yes." Nozomi nodded slowly, looking confused that Emiko was confused.

"Papa said it was a board game, not a game." Emiko explained.

"A board game is a kind of game." Nozomi explained.

"Oh!" Emiko's eyes lit up in understanding. "Are video games games too!?"

"Yes." Nozomi laughed. "If it has the word 'game' in it, it's probably a game."

"I get it!" Emiko smiled, happy.

Anezaki pondered that interaction for a moment. Emiko was proving to be a blunt, straightforward sort of girl. She was very kind and her emotions came only in extremes. It made Anezaki wonder just how much of Emiko's behavior was the fault of parenting and how much of it was something else. Anezaki had had children with mental disabilities' in her classes before, their odd behaviors had nothing to do with parenting usually.

The buzz of a cell phone brought the class into silence. Everyone was staring at the vibrating phone on Anezaki's desk. With a small, embarrassed blush, Anezaki drove for the phone and promptly silenced it, mental smacking herself for forgetting to turn it off. She quickly checked her phone. Hiruma had sent her a text with saying 'Devie's 5:30'.

"Was that your boyfriend?" One of the girls asked.

"No!" Anezaki was mortified. Her dating Hiruma!?

"You're blushing!" One of the boys pointed a finger at her with a triumphant laugh.

"Ke ke ke!" Emiko laughed, sounding just like her father.

Needless to say the added surrealism hadn't helped matters.

**-Devie's, 5:45-**

Anezaki didn't usually take the trains out into the Deimon area anymore, she hadn't had much of a reason to go and visit her old high school. Having had known the train schedule, Anezaki took the trains presuming that had not changed. But it had and now she was running 15 minutes late for her rendezvous with Hiruma and 15 minutes early for her dinner appointment with Takekura and Kurita. In her rush to try and save what little time there was left, Anezaki almost crashed into Hiruma as she entered the restaurant.

"I'm so sorry!" Anezaki gasped between pants.

"Tch." Hiruma muttered. "You used to be punctual." With that Hiruma walked back into the restaurant, leaving Anezaki to catch her breath and follow. Hiruma was wearing a more causal set up, consisting of a leather jacket, jeans, and a blue tee-shirt. Notably, Hiruma was wearing a wide-brimmed hat that made his pointy ears less obvious. Anezaki simply followed him to the booth where he sat down.

"We're here to talk right?" Anezaki asked as she sat down.

Hiruma pointedly looked out the window.

"…I know I don't understand everything you've been doing these last six years but," Anezaki told Hiruma, "why do you shut everyone out? Musashi and Kurita would have loved to stand by your side when you got married. Any of us would babysit Emiko in a heartbeat! Why-"

"I didn't come here to have you lecture me." Hiruma pointed out to her in a quiet voice. Anezaki stopped and pulled her emotions back under control.

"…Everyone's been hurting since you left." Anezaki informed him.

"I didn't come here for a guilt trip either." Hiruma told her flatly, annoyed at her behavior.

"What did you come here for?" Anezaki asked, looking up and meeting Hiruma's gaze.

Outside the restaurant, Takekura and Kurita where walking down the street. Due to the bus schedule, they had landed at Devie's a little early.

"Hey, isn't that Mamori?" Kurita pointed at Anezaki, who was sitting across from some guy in a hat.

"Yeah, who's she talking to?" Takekura squinted trying to recognize the man. Both friends, without needing to talk, walked closer to the window to try and get a better look at the person.

"You're destroying the peace I've been carefully building these last six years," Hiruma told her acidly, "stay the hell out of it and don't go bringing the others in."

"Hiruma!" Anezaki gasped. "Do you even care about your daughter?!"

"This is her peace!" Hiruma snapped angrily, leaping to his feet.

Takekura and Kurita recognized the figure: Hiruma Youichi. After a small shared look, the two rushed into the restaurant, blowing past the distressed hostess.

"Hiruma!" Takekura yelled, stopping the angered man mid-rant. Hiruma looked away from Anezaki to make eye contract with Takekura for the first time in six years.

"Hiruma!" Kurita yelled, a few tears leaking out of his eyes. Hiruma met Kurita's eyes too.

Then Hiruma grimaced, turned, and ran away. Takekura chased after him for a little while, but quickly lost Hiruma in the dark streets. Kurita, knowing that it was better than to try to run after his two friends, stopped and looked at Anezaki.

"Why?" Kurita asked Anezaki, so confused as to why Hiruma would run away.

"…He's really scared." Anezaki explained.

"Scared? Of what?" Kurita was confused by that. "Hiruma wasn't afraid of anything."

"…I'll explain when Musashi comes back." Anezaki told Kurita simply. She didn't think she could explain everything that had been happening twice.

"…He's not going to catch Hiruma, is he?" Kurita muttered.

"No, he's not." Anezaki agreed.

About 20 minutes later Takekura came back and sat down next to Kurita, looking completely defeated.

"Do you know what possessed him to run like that?" Takekura asked, winded.

"Part of it." Anezaki began. She recounted to the other two how she had met Hiruma Emiko and the complexities between Hiruma's current relations with his in-laws. Takekura and Kurita stayed really quiet while Anezaki explained what she knew about the custody trial and the advice Kobayakawa had given her. She finished with the conversation she had just had with him.

"…That explains that ring he started wearing." Takekura remarked after Anezaki finished. Anezaki paused and recalled that Hiruma had been wearing a small gold ring every time she had seen him recently.

"He was wearing it before?" Anezaki couldn't recall seeing Hiruma with a ring before.

"Around his neck, on a necklace." Kurita explained. "One day in the showers he had a ring around his neck. Musashi and I were the only ones that noticed."

"He was always super careful about hiding it too," Takekura continued, "I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the fact I showered next to him."

"Since he was always hiding it, we decided not to ask him about it." Kurita continued. "…We always thought he would tell us when he was ready…."

"He wasn't getting a lot of sleep right before he left," Takekura went on, "I called him on that one-"

"He said it was going to go away soon." Kurita finished.

"…I wonder why he'd say that if he was about to become a father." Anezaki wondered. "Wait-! You don't think he and Chizue-san were planning on putting Emiko up for adoption?"

"They probably were." Takekura admitted. "If Hiruma had been seriously interested in someone romantically, I would have been at that wedding."

"And Hiruma really loves Emiko-chan, so he wants what's best for her, right?" Kurita observed wisely.

"…He didn't want his daughter raised in a loveless marriage." Anezaki whispered, her eyes wide in realization.

"But what's scaring him so much?" Takekura muttered. "Why is he afraid of us meeting Emiko?"

"…I didn't get an opportunity to talk to Sena about it, but I think he might have the best guess of the lot of us." Anezaki explained.

"Why Sena?" Kurita blinked, a little confused by that himself.

"Because Sena is the only father I know of that knew Hiruma fairly well." Anezaki answered simply. "And I think most of these problems stem from Hiruma being a father."

_=_=_=_=_

I changed the chapter title four times, meh! Tell me what you think!


	12. 11: World Leader Pretend

Author's Note: I had ideas for the chapters that come after this, but not this one. It's been a long bout of writer's block and not finding a song didn't help any matters. Eventually I had an epiphany thanks to Michel Stipe (lead singer of REM).

Song: World Leader Pretend is by REM, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 11: World Leader Pretend

Hiruma threw himself into his apartment, the adrenaline still rushing in his system. Chizue woke up and began running and barking, clearly upset with the new development. Hiruma ignored the dog, ripped his shoes from his feet and stormed into his bedroom. All the while his mind was moving at a million miles an hour and showed no sign of slowing soon. Somehow he managed to strip, shower, put on pajama bottoms, and crash onto his bed. Finally his mind had calmed, allowing himself to think straight and sensibly again.

In reflection, Hiruma could see himself freaking out. He could see himself being overwhelmed by the illogical fears that had been plaguing him for the last six years. All he had done was run away like a coward. And yet, here he was on his bed, heart rate still high and his body unconsciously shivering in fear.

A small thump and vibration on the mattress told Hiruma that Chizue was now in bed with him. The ex-quarterback chose to ignore the dog and instead burry his face shamelessly in a pillow while he tried to calm his body. Chizue didn't seem to notice and walked over to Hiruma's head. She licked his ear twice and laid herself down right in the crook of his neck. Without any warning for either party, Hiruma grabbed the dog and pulled her up against his chest. With a shaky hand, Hiruma began to pet Chizue. The slow, consistent motions of petting managed to calm down Hiruma's body.

Now with even breathing and a lower heart rate, Hiruma could really relax and try to figure out what happened. After a small bit of reflection, Hiruma decided all of his problems really started when Chizue had convinced him to have sex all those years ago. Hiruma and Chizue weren't in love by any stretch of the imagination and they knew it. They both had an understanding, an empathy with one another, but no love. Chizue was extremely spineless and timid, not traits Hiruma wanted in a life partner. Hiruma wanted someone who would stand up to him, question him, and at the same time support him.

Chizue was a person who needed constant support and would crumble if she tried to support anything. Hiruma always assumed this came from having an extremely controlling mother growing up. One of the few things Hiruma admired in Chizue was her intelligence and her ability to observe. She always saw through people and understood their true intentions, though she almost never had the courage to voice this. Playing poker with Chizue proved to be a very unprofitable experience as she always saw through his taunts and bluffs and had a remarkably impassive poker face of her own right; which is exactly why Hiruma stopped bothering to play with her. Neither of them minded, Chizue didn't really like gambling and Hiruma hated losing.

At first, the loveless couple hadn't even shared a bedroom. Chizue had her room, Hiruma had his; both rooms were set up so that in a small amount of time they could be packed up and hidden away so that visitors would not know about the existence of the spouse of the person being visited. It worked rather nicely for a good while, neither party had any complaints.

But then Hiruma's sleeping teenage hormones decided to wake up. The poor man found himself waking up either hard or wet. He didn't remember his dreams on those nights, but he was pretty sure Chizue was somehow involved in the mess. At first he did nothing other than take a shower every morning and wash his sheets a lot more frequently than he once did. If Chizue noticed the change, she said nothing, for which Hiruma was grateful.

Then one morning Hiruma found himself hard, wet and walking into the communal bathroom to see an undressed Chizue. Apparently she had an early morning and needed to shower earlier than usual. There had been an awkward pause while she looked him up and down.

_"This has been happening every night for a while now." Chizue commented, staring right at the evidence._

_"…Tch." Hiruma looked to the side, irritated._

_"Why don't we have sex?" Chizue suggested, startling Hiruma. "I don't mean every night or anything, just to unwind things like that." She pointed at the erection._

That was the first time in Hiruma's life he had been truly terrified by something. He had felt that his body had gotten out of his control and on top of that he felt that Chizue had become a stranger. Suggesting things to him, offering sex, those weren't things the Chizue he knew was capable of. The next night he had nightmares about her, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. And the night after the nightmares came back. When the nightmares finally stopped, wet dreams took their place. A small trip to the doctor informed Hiruma he should probably try having some sex to see if it satisfied the hormones.

It turns out it did. The wet dreams went away along with the general horniness Hiruma had found himself the victim of too frequently. At first he had thought he was finally done with the hormones and sex drive. But they came back again, so Hiruma had sex again. Sex became an infrequent affair for the married couple, something that Hiruma wasn't completely comfortable with. They used every bit of birth control they could get their hands on: condoms, cervix caps, spermicide, and countless others. But still Hiruma was not satisfied with the almost 0% chance of conception, he had won football games by margins like that too frequently for his liking. He'd much rather have a probability of zero.

And low and behold, during the second year of their marriage, Chizue came to him one evening and told him she was pregnant. She was scared and he had been scared too. The one condition they had tried so hard to keep to in their marriage, they just broke. Hiruma found himself hearing Chizue's fears and wishes, he found himself getting caught up in them. He couldn't help it; her frantic words and teary eyes stained his memories. Nine months later, mid-football season, Chizue died giving birth to Emiko.

Hiruma faintly remembered being pulled away from Chizue's corpse, but he did sharply recall having the screaming, wiggling infant put into his arms. Hiruma remembered exactly what Emiko looked like the first time he met her. She had a lot of black fuzz on the top of her head and was extremely scrawny, even for a baby. Her head was a bit on the large side, and her small ears were distinctly pointy. Hiruma had gasped loudly when she had been put into his arms, and Emiko had stopped crying. Two brown eyes that were almost black, they were so dark, opened up and looked right into his.

For the first time in his life, Hiruma Youichi had fallen in love, completely and wholly. Suddenly all the chaos of the hospital around him was gone, all of the hells he had carried himself through had led up to this moment, this little life in his arms. It all had made perfect sense; Emiko had made his life make sense. To protect her, Hiruma had chosen to disappear and shake off his enemies and cut ties with his life of enslaving others. Emiko deserved better than that, she deserved a childhood full of smiles and happy experiences, with a wonderful father who loved her and that she loved back without question.

Hiruma hadn't known what to say to his friends, he hadn't told them that he had married, that Chizue had been pregnant. He had deceived them and at the same time betrayed them. Hiruma had promised that he would not deceive them, he had promised Musashi and Kurita a place at his wedding, he had promised everyone that they would be there, with him at the hospital while waiting for his first child to be born. In the end Hiruma had given them nothing but lies, denying them the promises he should have kept.

Part of Hiruma felt horrible and ashamed, he could not face them. The fears Chizue had instilled into him hadn't left and in some ways, had only been amplified by Emiko's presence in his life. So, in fear of rejection, in fear of shame, Hiruma hid himself away from them as well. As the years passed, as Emiko grew up, Hiruma had only felt as though he had gotten in over his head. Yes he regretted leaving his friends, but at the same time he knew that leaving them hanging wouldn't have helped any matters; they probably had gotten more angry and confused as time passed.

It hadn't helped that there was something _wrong_ with Emiko. Hiruma couldn't put his finger on it, but his daughter wasn't exactly _normal._ Logically, Emiko couldn't be a normal child because she didn't have a mother figure in her life despite Saburo's attempts to fulfill that role. And Hiruma didn't have any experience with children beyond Emiko, nor did he come from a terribly functional family situation. His parenting skills were learned completely by trial and error. It was fair to say he wasn't a perfect parent and it was equally fair to say he had made mistakes. But Emiko's weird phrasing of words, some of the funny ideas she got into her head, and a lot of the things she did around strangers, just weren't normal. Like filling up the trash can in the bathroom with things she found around the house, that didn't seem like a normal child's idea of play.

And there was the fact that Emiko _hated_ dolls. She only wanted animal plushies, preferably without clothes. She played pretend with them frequently, pretending the animals were people. Hiruma didn't mind, but he found it strange that she didn't want to have dolls. Emiko wasn't keen on the idea of new toys either, she was perfectly happy with what she had. Her selflessness often amazed Hiruma.

Hiruma wasn't an idiot, he suspected his daughter might have some kind of disability, but he didn't want to admit that. He didn't want to admit that his daughter might have something fundamentally broken about her. The fact that there might be something permanently wrong with his daughter's mind scared him. He didn't want the fact that he was pretty messed up in the head to have been passed onto his daughter. She didn't deserve it.

Six years later, Hiruma had ran into Anezaki for the first time in years. His old friend had become a school teacher, a childhood dream come true. To say Hiruma wasn't jealous about her life, success, and fulfillment of her dreams, would have been a lie. To say he wasn't intimidated by her happiness would have also been a lie. Hiruma hadn't been expecting her to be so forgiving, to have a desire and drive to help him even after what he had done to her.

Anezaki was confusing him. He had hurt her and the others, he had abandoned them! And yet, here she was, fighting for Emiko's sake as hard as he was. Anezaki was forcing herself back into his life and that scared him. He was scared of changes, just like his daughter was, he was scared of Anezaki finding the person he had become over all these years. He was afraid of her in a way he had never been.

The rational side of Hiruma reminded himself that Anezaki wasn't an intimidating woman, nor was she a horrible person. All she wanted to do was help, there was no hidden meaning there. The same rational side reminded him that being afraid of all these things was silly and dumb, he was smarter than this! And Hiruma knew that outside of Emiko, he was a very unhappy, lonely person. He knew that the only person to blame for letting this irrational fear control his life so perfectly was himself. And Hiruma knew the only person who could crawl out from under these fears was himself.

And ultimately, Hiruma knew that he couldn't get his daughter back until he was a master of his fears. Because if he couldn't control them, then Saburo's arguments were right and he didn't deserve the right to raise Emiko.

Hiruma left then arrived at a few questions: how would he defeat these fears? Where would he find the strength to destroy the walls he had built around himself? When he could find the courage to face Anezaki, his past, his present, and his and Emiko's futures?

Hiruma did not know. He simply did not know.

_=_=_=_=_

Tell me what you think.


	13. 12: Drive

Author's Note: Sorry about this, I thought I had posted this chapter several days ago. Here it is now.

Song: Drive is by Incubus, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 12: Drive

To Anezaki's surprise, Kobayakawa arrived that Saturday. Apparently the news about Hiruma had been weighing heavily enough on Kobayakawa's mind that it was interfering with his performance at practice. The coach had ordered Kobayakawa to go to Japan and deal with whatever this family issue was and come back as soon as possible. Not that Anezaki wasn't grateful for the help, but she wasn't exactly expecting to spend four hours in traffic trying to pick Kobayakawa up from the airport.

"I'm sorry I didn't call yesterday, Mamo-nee." Kobayakawa gave her a little bow, as he always did.

"It's okay." Anezaki assured him. "I was a bit busy yesterday anyways."

"Did something happen?" Kobayakawa asked as the two walked down to the baggage claim to pick up his suitcase.

"…Well I was going to meet with Musashi and Kurita about Hiruma," Anezaki began, "when Hiruma wanted to meet with me."

"He reached out to you?" Kobayakawa frowned, trying to figure out what the action meant.

"He was trying to keep me from telling Kurita and Musashi." Anezaki explained.

"What did he say exactly?" Kobayakawa asked. Anezaki recounted the conversation the best she could.

"'This is her peace' and that's when Musashi and Kurita came in and he ran off." Anezaki finished. Kobayakawa picked up his suitcase and the two headed towards the parking lot.

"…Hmm." Kobayakawa nodded slowly, digesting the information. "Could you explain exactly how he got a daughter again?"

"Oh sure!" Anezaki quickly explained everything she knew about Emiko, Hiruma, Chizue, and the Saburo family as the two made their way into Anezaki's car. Kobayakawa sat and listened quietly while she drove out of the airport and towards her apartment.

"Do you know where Hiruma-san currently lives?" Kobayakawa asked at the end of the explanation.

"Yes-" Anezaki wasn't able to ask her question as Kobayakawa cut her off.

"Take me there." Kobayakawa requested. "…I need to talk to Hiruma-san personally."

"Okay." Anezaki had looked into Kobayakawa's big brown eyes and saw all she needed. Physically, Kobayakawa was muscular and trim, as an athlete should be. He had unruly chocolate brown hair and big brown eyes that revealed all of Kobayakawa's thoughts and emotions. Right now he was filled with that stubborn determination Anezaki only saw him display around football. Kobayakawa was _going_ to do something about Hiruma, come hell or high water.

The rest of the car trip was spent talking about Kobayakawa's son: Akira Jarvis Kobayakawa, or AJ. Because he now lived in the United States as a full citizen, Kobayakawa and his wife had decided to give their son a western name and a more traditional Japanese name. That way AJ could go by Jarvis or AJ in America and not get teased for having an eastern name since no one would call him by his last name, while if AJ went to Japan he could be Kobayakawa or Akira as needed. Most of the time Kobayakawa's son went by AJ.

"He's started the most horrible game!" Kobayakawa gasped. "Every time we go out in public, he bolts off the moment we let go of him, right into some crowd!"

"Oh my!" Anezaki gasped.

"He's almost as fast as me!" Kobayakawa complained. "And he can get in such tight places! Hii! It's such a hassle to get catch him sometimes!"

"Suzuna must have a really hard time keeping up with you two!" Anezaki pointed out wisely, feeling a little sorry for Kobayakawa and his wife.

"Actually, she just stands there and laughs." Kobayakawa sighed. "AJ never runs off when it's just him and her."

"I bet he wants to be like you." Anezaki chuckled.

"I don't mind that he wants to run with me, just not in public like that." Kobayakawa moaned.

"We're here." Anezaki announced as she stopped the car in front of the apartment building.

"What number?" Kobayakawa asked her.

"6021." Anezaki answered. "I'm going to park over at the city park two blocks north of here, okay?"

"Okay." Kobayakawa nodded and turned to face the building. It was an extremely tall building and looked fairly nice and fancy. Certainly more fancy than Kobayakawa's stained sweat suit he had been wearing on the airplane. Squaring his shoulders, Kobayakawa walked into the building and took the elevator up to the 60th floor. As Kobayakawa had correctly guessed, the first two numbers of the apartment number matched the floor it was on. Walking down the lilac corridor revealed cream doors that had last names and numbers on them. Hiruma's door was no exception. His also included what appeared to be green crayon marks, a clear sign that a child had been by.

Kobayakawa knocked on Hiruma's door and waited. He heard barking on the other side and some muffled cursing that went something on the lines of 'shut up, damn dog!'. A small part of Kobayakawa's mind was afraid of Hiruma's dog and prayed it wasn't anything like the late Cerberus (who had been on hell of a dog). Carefully, Kobayakawa readied himself to rush, knowing that Hiruma would probably try to shut him out.

Hiruma opened the door, still dressed in red pajamas despite the late hour. Kobayakawa rushed past Hiruma, picking up the small brown dog to keep from tripping over it or having it escape into the hall. Kobayakawa cut into the living room and dove for the fat chair before Hiruma had a chance to register who it had been at his door.

"The fuck!?" Hiruma roared, clearly upset by the sudden invasion. The front door slammed shut and Kobayakawa held up the dog and looked into its large eyes.

"Hii…. I think your master's about to kill me…." Kobayakawa muttered at the sound of a gun's safety being released. Kobayakawa set the dog on the ground, which just stared at him with a cocked head.

"Fucking shrimp!?" Hiruma stared down the top of his rifle to look down at Kobayakawa, who was crashed rather spectacularly on his couch. Kobayakawa was currently upside down with his legs up in the air while his back and shoulders were down on the couch.

"H-hi!" Kobayakawa managed a nervous smile. "I-I thought I'd stop by since I was in town."

"…And how the hell did you find my place?" Hiruma demanded, lowering his gun.

"Mamori-neechan told me." Kobayakawa answered as he righted himself on the couch. Hiruma glared at Kobayakawa.

"Get out."

"No." Kobayakawa was firm and determined as he stood up and looked Hiruma in the eye.

"I didn't invite you into my home, get the fuck out!" Hiruma demanded, taking an aggressive step forward. Kobayakawa said nothing then dashed forward, punching Hiruma across the face. The suddenness and force of the blow was enough to send Hiruma sprawling onto the floor.

"Do you have any idea what you've done!?" Kobayakawa bellowed, standing over Hiruma.

Hiruma simply stared, his body shaking from fear and intimidation. Kobayakawa fell to his knees beside Hiruma and pulled the shaking man up into a tight, warm hug. Hiruma was shocked by this and stiffened, unable to relax.

"You made us so worried…." Kobayakawa explained, sounding slightly emotional. "We thought you got killed by a rebellious slave or something…." Unconsciously, Kobayakawa was rubbing Hiruma's back in a comforting, fatherly manner. And somehow Hiruma found himself relaxing, despite the growing pain in his cheek.

Hiruma's mouth failed to form a response, so he just made a funny half-grunt, half-sob.

"I'm glad you're safe." Kobayakawa admitted. "And I hear that Emiko is beautiful and wonderful too."

Hiruma stiffened again.

"You did it to protect her, right?" Kobayakawa understood. "I might have done the same thing with my son if I had been in your place."

"Eh?" Hiruma managed.

"So, I forgive you. So do the others." Kobayakawa told Hiruma simply.

_'I'm forgiven?'_ Hiruma realized after a moment; that fact alone made a lot of his insecurities and absurd assumptions seem nothing but silly. Hiruma finally felt Kobayakawa's fatherly hand rub circles on his back. For the first time in a long time, Hiruma felt comforted and secure. It was as if the last six years had been some long, strange dream from which he had just woken up.

Chizue barked loudly, bringing both Hiruma and Kobayakawa back into reality. The reality that Kobayakawa's manhandling hadn't been gentile and hurt, the reality that Chizue needed to be fed, and the reality that Emiko needed help _now_.

"Ungh." Hiruma muttered as he pulled himself off the shorter man's shoulder. "Fucking dog wants food."

"Mm." Kobayakawa nodded, releasing Hiruma fully. He silently watched his old friend walk into the back of the apartment. A bit curious Sena followed Hiruma into the kitchen. It looked like Emiko had run around with crayons on more than one occasion, there were marks of her having been by. On one corner of the wall there was a drawing of figure that bore a decent resemblance to Hiruma throwing a football.

The sound of kibble hitting a metal bowl reminded Kobayakawa to finish making his way into the kitchen. Hiruma had turned on the coffee maker and was currently putting the bowl down for the dog. Kobayakawa sat down at the kitchen table eyeing Chizue with relief.

"Your new dog isn't at all like Cerberus." Kobayakawa observed.

"I didn't want a violent dog around my girl." Hiruma answered. "Cerberus would have tried attacking her at some point, that fucker attacked everything."

"…Is your face okay?" Kobayakawa asked.

"It will be." Hiruma rolled his eyes and got out some ice. "I fucking deserved it."

The two fell into silence that wasn't broken until the coffee maker chimed. Hiruma poured himself a glass and glanced at Kobayakawa.

"I think I'll go now." Kobayakawa announced. Hiruma didn't pour him coffee.

"Don't you have a game today?" Hiruma asked, eyeing the calendar.

"…Worrying about your situation was affecting my performance." Kobayakawa admitted. "I'm on coach's orders to go 'deal with it'."

"Fuck." Hiruma muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"You shouldn't be worrying about me," Kobayakawa scolded Hiruma lightly, "you should be worrying about yourself right now."

Hiruma didn't say anything because Kobayakawa was right.

"…How long will you be in town?" Hiruma asked.

"Not too long I think," Kobayakawa admitted, "I've done my part and besides, I want to get back to AJ."

"AJ?" Hiruma raised an eyebrow.

"My son." Kobayakawa told Hiruma with a smile. "And you have your own daughter to get back to too."

"Yeah." Hiruma understood.

"I'm sorry about barging in." Kobayakawa bowed slightly. "Have a nice day." Quickly Kobayakawa made his way to the entry way, faintly aware that Hiruma was following him. Right as he opened the door, Hiruma kicked him on the ass, hard.

After recovering from being sent sprawling across the floor, Kobayakawa turned and looked around to see a smirking Hiruma. The apartment door shut and Kobayakawa burst out laughing. He ran out of the apartment, a dumb smile on his face.

Hiruma stood inside his apartment, threw back his head.

"Ya-ha!" Hiruma bellowed, shedding the last of his fears like a rag. He'd needed that punch for a while now, he'd needed to know his friends still gave a fuck and were willing to forgive.

Chizue came bounding over and barked at him, content.

"Quit acting all smug, it was fucking shrimp's work." Hiruma glared at the dog.

_=_=_=_=_

Ya-ha! Hiruma wakes up!


	14. 13: Bon Dia

Author's Note: Bon Dia is by Els Pets, a Catalan band. Bon Dia translates from Catalan as Good Day. My kind and wondrous sister translated the lyrics for me, they are under the link on my profile. It's also on my LiveJournal account which is under the name bar_ohki. And it seemed like an excellent song for someone who just metaphorically woke up.

Song: Bon Dia is by Els Pets, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 13: Bon Dia (Good Day)

A black shirt and a good pair of jeans, snappy black leather shoes and a comfortable, warm jacket; Hiruma Youichi was up and dressed. He ran a comb through his bushy black hair and examined his clean-shaven reflection in the mirror. He noted his little, subtitle earrings he currently had in with a frown. Quickly he took them out and, after a decent bit of searching in his jewelry box, pulled out the four silver hoops he used to wear. After a quick cleaning he put them in, comforted by the familiar weight on his earlobes. Hiruma put a cocky grin on his face and nodded, content with his appearance.

Soon Hiruma was in the kitchen, on a chair, and reaching up into his gun safe. It was almost out of his physical reach and most defiantly out of Emiko's reach (and that included climbing on counters and shelves). After several firm hits of the number pad, the safe door swung open. He grabbed a simple handgun and tucked it into his inside jacket pocket. He grabbed a more aggressive-looking machine gun and tucked it somewhere else on his person. When the gun safe was snapped shut and locked again, Chizue decided to whine with a leash in her mouth.

"Fine." Hiruma glared at the dog as he got off the chair and put it back at the table. He snatched the leash from the dog and walked over to the entrance of the apartment. Chizue sat down and patiently waited for Hiruma to hook the leash on. And with a jingle of keys, the two were out the door and on their way.

Once upon the street Hiruma looked around faintly wondering where he should go. Reaching into his pocket he discovered there was no gum inside. With a blink he realized that he hadn't bought any gum in over six years (Chizue had had a particularly violent fit when pregnant and banded gum from the apartment). Now that he had a destination in mind, Hiruma started walking over to the convenience store. It'd been a long time since he walked around in public without fear.

Chizue would yip and bark, playing adorably with the little bugs that buzzed by. A few of the passers by gave Hiruma looks that portrayed being slightly uncomfortable. Yes, he wasn't dressed oddly, yes he had a cute dog, but the earrings and the pointy ears along with that somewhat evil grin? Hiruma continued to smile, finding something satisfying about being himself and about having people react like they were supposed to around him. There was a spring in his step that hadn't been there in a long while, he actually enjoyed watching people be a little uncomfortable around him.

"Good day." Some cross eyed homeless bum commented from his seat on the sidewalk. Chizue sniffed him and shot Hiruma a look. Reaching into his pocket Hiruma tossed the bum some money.

"Yeah, it's a good day." Hiruma agreed and walked on his way, still smiling.

**-With Emiko, at Saburo's house-**

Emiko had made a discovery and it was a wonderful one. She discovered if she didn't make any noise, Grandma forgot she was there. And if Grandma didn't remember she was there, Grandma wouldn't remember to spank her. Emiko also realized she could go to that place in her mind and not get in trouble like she sometimes did with Papa.

Whenever Emiko got lonely, she'd play pretend and go into her imaginary world. It was a happy place, with flowers, swings, friends and everything Emiko ever wanted. Papa told it her he didn't mind that she went to visit this world sometimes, but Emiko wasn't supposed to do it all of the time. But Emiko really liked going there, it was a happy place after all. And with Grandma not remembering her, Emiko was welcome to come and go as she pleased.

So Emiko went and visited with her friends inside her happy world. For Emiko, today was a good day.

**-With Anezaki and Kobayakawa-**

"You still haven't told me how things went with Hiruma yesterday." Anezaki commented as she walked down the path at the park with her old friend, Kobayakawa.

"Ah, sorry about that." Kobayakawa apologized. "…I woke up the old Hiruma-san."

"Woke up?" Anezaki blinked, not too sure what Kobayakawa had meant.

"The Hiruma-san we remember fell asleep six years ago, now he's awake again." Kobayakawa clarified. "And it's not as though he hasn't changed, but I think he will listen to reason again."

"Ah." Anezaki nodded.

"I'm going back home tomorrow." Kobayakawa told her.

"You haven't been here very long." Anezaki observed with a frown.

"Hiruma-san will be okay now," Kobayakawa assured her, "now that's he's awake again."

Two little squealing children ran by the two old friends.

"And besides," Kobayakawa added, "today is a good day too."

"Yeah," Anezaki agreed, "today is a good day too."

**-With Juumonji-**

Juumonji Kazuki, the head of security at Takekura Construction Company, was going to the convenience store during a break at work to restock some of the necessities in the brake room (like caffeinated beverages). Juumonji had a head of buzzed blond hair, an x-shaped scar on his right cheek. Currently he wore the typical security guard get up, tan slacks, matching tan button up shirt with badges and a gun holster and a large, dark brown jacket. The get up also included a hat Juumonji had chosen not to wear that day.

On his way to the convenience store he found himself walking behind a man with spiky black hair. The guy seemed normal enough from the back, except the on-coming pedestrians were giving the guy weary looks. It made Juumonji wonder who it was, the guy had a perfectly nice puppy on a pink leash. Of course because of said puppy the guy was forced to walk at the puppy's pace, which was slower than Juumonji wanted. When the opportunity presented itself, Juumonji shot around the guy to pass him.

Well that had been Juumonji's plan but little Chizue had other ideas. She suddenly cut right and managed to tangle her leash around Hiruma and Juumonji's legs. With another 'innocent' dash to the left, she sent the two men crashing into one another. Thankfully Juumonji's skills as a lineman allowed him to keep the two of them upright, despite the fact he wasn't balanced very well. Hiruma was currently not happy with being held upright against the chest of some dude in a tan shirt while his leg had been bound to the other man's leg by Chizue.

"Fucking dog!" Hiruma hissed shooting Chizue a glare. Chizue had sat down and cocked her head at him.

Juumonji on the other hand had recognized the body in his arms before the person spoke. Hiruma was a scrawny, wirey muscle kind of guy, with poky joints and a boney back. Having spent all of high school, college, and a decently long stint with the Takekura Construction Company's Devil Bats playing under Hiruma, Juumonji had become familiar with the man's body. This was a body he had practiced trying to sack for years, this was a body that practiced trying to dodge his charge for years, this was the body of a man that had been missing these last six years. And on top of that this body had a voice he also remembered yelling at him many a time, followed by a spray of rubber bullets.

"Hiruma!?" Juumonji gasped, not having expected to have run into the man quite so literally.

"Hmm?" Hiruma glanced up at Juumonji and got a look at his face. Brief recollection crossed Hiruma's features and he went back to glaring at his dog.

"Hold me steady and I'll get the fucking leash off." Hiruma told Juumonji as he slowly reached down to the leash with his free hand. Juumonji obediently shifted his grip and weight to make Hiruma's job easier. It did not take long for the dexterous Hiruma to get their legs free of the leash. Once free, Hiruma pulled the puppy into a firm heel on and shortened the length on the leash dramatically. Juumonji took a step back and gave Hiruma some space to stand.

"It's been a while," Juumonji began awkwardly, "how have you been?"

Hiruma didn't answer immediately; instead his eyebrows were furrowed in deep concentration. Much to his annoyance, the illogical fear was still very much there and it was telling him to run away. With a grunt he forced himself to calm down and act rationally by answering Juumonji rather than running away like the fool he had been.

"…Shit happened." Hiruma answered after a moment. "…Today's not too bad."

"I'm guessing it was a lot of shit." Juumonji observed, finding Hiruma's nervousness strange and unsettling.

"…You still work for the fucking old man." Hiruma noted, eyeing the uniform Juumonji had been wearing since before he left the company.

"Pay's good, boss is nice, and I get to play football." Juumonji chuckled. "Why would I quit?" There hung a heavy, unspoken question between them: why did you quit?

"Next time you see the old man, tell him to fucking call me." Hiruma told Juumonji, making his unease with the topic clear.

"He has your number?" Juumonji sounded surprised. Hiruma knew why, Anezaki hadn't gotten around to telling the others about him yet.

"He knows where to find it if he doesn't have it." Hiruma assured Juumonji.

"...You aren't going planning to disappear again are you?" Juumonji couldn't help but to ask before the conversation ended.

"No." Hiruma looked up at the sun and smiled slightly. "I'm here to fucking stay."

"Good." Juumonji breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll be seeing you at practice sometime then?"

"Y-yeah." Hiruma assured Juumonji and watched the man walk ahead, leaving Hiruma to his own devices on the sidewalk.

Part of Hiruma was thankful that Juumonji had the tact not to pry and not to complain when Hiruma made a point to not offer Juumonji his phone number. Hiruma was also grateful that it was Juumonji, as opposed to one of the idiots. The idiots would have made things unnecessarily complicated by being idiots; Juumonji didn't do any of that.

The other part of Hiruma was excited. Excited because he might finally get the chance to play football, something Hiruma had not considered ever getting to do again. With a smile Hiruma continued on his way, to get gum, to get back himself, and to think about ways to get Emiko back.

_=_=_=_=_

I had to rewrite the Juumonji scene twice, it just didn't want to behave. Thankfully I won despite that.


	15. 14: You Found Me part 1

Author's Note: This chapter was a little long, so I broke it up into two parts. Lots of reviews and I'll post the next part sooner as opposed to later. I will also kindly remind you at this time that I select songs solely based on lyrical harmony with my written words, I do not want to hear anything about Twilight in my reviews if at all possible.

Song: You Found Me is by Kelly Clarkson, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 14: You Found Me (part 1)

Emiko was doing it again, drawing an amazingly detailed picture of her father. Now that Anezaki knew exactly who it was Emiko was drawing she found herself amazed by the details of the girl's drawing. The drawn Hiruma had pointy ears, small but sharp green eyes, pointy teeth, nostrils, and a pointy chin. Usually her pictures of her father included a book, a laptop, or a football. Each object held extra detail, like words on the book's spine, or keys on the laptop.

Today Emiko had just finished putting the laces on the football when Nozomi asked what the ball was. Emiko then launched off into a long, quickly spoken, explanation of American Football. Nozomi sat there and nodded, actually able to follow Emiko's somewhat convoluted explanation. Emiko would be talking about the rules one moment, then get side-tracked and start talking about one of the games she saw, which would get her talking about a player and that would in turn get her back to talking about her father when he played. Somehow at the mention of Hiruma, Emiko would remember she was trying to explain the rules and go back to that. Anezaki was amazed at the kind of knowledge Emiko had about the sport, the girl was reciting details left and right at light speed it seemed.

"Emiko-chan." Anezaki tried to interrupt the girl. Emiko was still speaking extremely quickly trying to get all her thoughts out and completely oblivious to Anezaki's attempts to catch her attention. Nozomi did catch on to what Anezaki was trying to do and begun to make polite attempts herself. Eventually Anezaki set her hands on Emiko's shoulders which made the girl yelp, startled.

"Emiko-chan," Anezaki said firmly, "we're done drawing pictures now."

"Oh!" Emiko sounded surprised. She'd been very distracted talking about football.

Anezaki then proceeded to continue to carry on with the rest of the class while her mind silently pondered the issue of Emiko. It was painfully obvious that the girl had a disability and Anezaki was amazed that Saburo hadn't noticed or said anything. It also partly amazed her that Hiruma hadn't done anything about it (Anezaki was sure he noticed, the man was too smart and observant to have not to).

The school day ended and Anezaki waited for Saburo to show outside the gates with Emiko. Nozomi waited next to Emiko and the two were talking about their fathers and comparing. Like usual, Emiko would go off on a lecture and had a lot of difficultly giving Nozomi a chance to talk. Thankfully, Nozomi was patient and would clap her hands in front of Emiko's face to tell the other girl to stop and give her a chance to talk. Saburo approached the school, walking proudly up in her blue dress.

"Saburo-san." Anezaki bowed.

"Have you stopped associating with that man?" Saburo demanded.

"I'm trying to do it politely." Anezaki lied, knowing that she needed to butter up Saburo a little. "Actually, Saburo-san, I have a question for you."

"A question?" Saburo cocked her head as she took Emiko's hand.

"Who's she?" Nozomi pointed at Saburo.

"My grandma." Emiko answered.

"Where's your Papa?" Nozomi asked.

"Bad men took him away." Emiko answered, sounding sad.

"You're going to bring Hiru-chan's Papa back, right?" Nozomi asked Saburo. "He's got to be a really good guy, Hiru-chan tells me all about him!"

"Emiko!" Saburo snapped and in response the young girl winced and braced herself for a physical blow. "Why are you spreading lies about that awful man?"

"Papa isn't bad." Emiko answered in a small voice.

Saburo frowned. "If your father wasn't a bad person you'd still be with him."

Emiko cried, distressed. Nozomi reached out to hug her friend when Saburo sharply pulled the other girl away.

"Saburo-san!" Anezaki gasped, mortified. "I know you have some issues with your son-in-law, but could you please set those aside and take Emiko-chan home without tears?! You make us look abusive!"

"Oh!" Saburo flushed, embarrassed.

"Nozomi-chan, I think you're mother's here, why don't you say good-bye to Emiko-chan and go see your mother?" Anezaki suggested to the distressed girl.

"See you tomorrow." Nozomi wished the crying Emiko and ran over to her mother.

"I guess we'll be along then." Saburo began to pull the crying Emiko away.

"Saburo-san, please wait!" Anezaki cried before the old woman could get very far. "I have something I need to speak with you about?"

"Speak with me?" Saburo blinked, then recalled Anezaki's words from earlier. "Oh, yes you have something to ask me."

"…Emiko-chan has been displaying some pretty abnormal behaviors in the classroom," Anezaki began, "I think she has a disability and I wanted to know if you thought the same."

"Her father mis-raised her and I have been fixing the problem. Emiko isn't disabled." Saburo answered curtly and darkly, then proceeded to march down the sidewalk with the crying child.

"Excuse me," Sakamoto Natsumi, Nozomi's mother, approached. She was a short, small woman with brown hair and brown eyes.

"Ah, Sakamoto-san." Anezaki bowed.

"What just happened?" Sakamoto asked.

"…Hiruma Emiko-chan has several issues at home." Anezaki answered simply. "We're doing what we can to solve them."

"I don't think that woman knows what she's doing," Sakamoto shook her head, "Hiruma-chan seems deeply upset every time she leaves school."

"I don't think she does either." Anezaki answered.

**-With Hiruma, at his apartment-**

Hiruma glanced at the clock, Takekura Gen was due to arrive within the hour. To say Hiruma wasn't nervous wouldn't have been a lie, even though he knew that his old friend had forgiven him, that didn't mean the man was happy with him. While he was tidying up the apartment his cell phone rang. Picking it up, Hiruma didn't recognize the number but answered anyways.

"Hello." Hiruma greeted the other person.

_"Hiruma-kun?"_ Anezaki's voice came over the other end.

"Fucking mother." Hiruma observed with a grunt. "How the hell did you get my number?"

_"I got it out of the school's records."_ Anezaki answered simply.

"Good." Hiruma nodded, he would have been worried if she had got his number any other way.

_"Hiruma-kun, I-"_ Anezaki stopped herself, struggling to find the right words, _"I need to talk to you about Emiko."_

"What?" Hiruma was surprised and worried. "Is everything okay?"

_"At school she's usually okay,"_ Anezaki answered, _"I don't think she's okay with Saburo-san."_

"…She's not." Hiruma answered, the frustration in his voice clear as day. "What do you mean by 'usually okay'?"

_"Emiko has a lot of funny ideas in her head,"_ Anezaki confessed, _"she thought that a 'board game' wasn't actually a 'game' the other day."_

Hiruma moaned loudly. "Not another one."

_"This has happened before?"_ Anezaki asked.

"…It's frequent." Hiruma explained. "She doesn't understand words very well and often takes things extremely literally. I've been trying to help with that, but the confusion just seems to grow…."

_"I think Emiko might have a disability."_ Anezaki admitted. _"There's other things that aren't quite right about her behavior."_

"…I see." Hiruma sounded guilty.

_"Hiruma-kun?"_

"I suspected she might have had one." Hiruma confessed.

_"…If you suspected that your daughter had a disability then you should have taken her in to get tested!"_ Anezaki lectured into the phone. _"That was extremely irresponsible of you! If Emiko does have a disability you have only been helping her suffer by not getting that confirmed!"_

"Sorry." Hiruma bowed his head.

_"Look, I need a letter from you urging the school to get your daughter tested for a disability."_ Anezaki told him. _"Saburo won't get take her to get tested."_

"…What should I put in it?" Hiruma asked.

_"Explain that you had plans to get her tested but she fell out of your custody before anything could have been done and out of concern for your child, you would like to see that she is tested in case."_ Anezaki instructed. _"Don't worry, I'll back up your claim and they'll look into it."_

"Okay." Hiruma nodded slightly. "Is there anything else I should know?"

_"Well your daughter made her first friend the other day…."_ Anezaki began to recount all of the happier tales of Emiko's school life to her father. Hiruma simply smiled and contently listened to the happy things, feeling proud when Emiko did something unexpectedly intelligent and cool, and laughing when she did something silly and cute.

"…Thank you." Hiruma told Anezaki sincerely. Losing Emiko had upset him greatly, he hadn't had much to be happy about recently. On top of that he had always wondered how his daughter did at school, she wasn't exactly around to tell him all about it at the moment.

_"Consider this advance payment for that letter."_ Anezaki told Hiruma with a chuckle.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma cackled. "Trying to save your ass in advance, eh fucking teacher?"

_"Maybe."_ Anezaki smiled. _"Have a good day."_ And then Anezaki hung up.

"And people tell me I'm the rude one…." Hiruma muttered looking at the 'call ended' sign flashing on his cell phone screen.

**-later, with Anezaki-**

To Anezaki's relief, Hiruma had gotten the letter to her by the end of the day. She checked over it for any inconsistencies and miss-spelled words, then sent it back to Hiruma with instructions on how he should present it to the school.

The man must have executed the plan perfectly, because Anezaki was confronted by the Principal the next day at lunch.

"Which one of those girls is Hiruma Emiko?" Matsu Akihiko, the Principal, sounded somewhere between concerned and annoyed. He was a large man, both fat and tall, with an ugly mustache, and a greasy grey comb over. What was not apparent with the man, was that he sincerely loved children and wanted the best for them.

"She's in the sandbox in the yellow dress." Anezaki answered. Emiko and Nozomi were building sandcastles and chatting excitedly about something.

"I received a letter from the girl's father." Matsu explained. "He is concerned that his daughter might have an undiagnosed disability of some kind."

"I see…." Anezaki nodded, pretending like this information was news.

"I want your opinion on the matter." Matsu looked at her expectantly with his tiny, dark, dark brown eyes.

"I agree with Emiko's father." Anezaki told him. "It's a language disability from what I've observed."

"Language?" Matsu frowned. "Hmm. I'll have to write a letter for to Hiruma-chan's current guardian, can I count on you to deliver it?"

"Yes." Anezaki nodded.

Saburo had taken the letter when she came to pick up Emiko that day. Anezaki had asked her to read it on the spot and Saburo had refused. The one good thing about the encounter was that Emiko didn't go home in tears. The next day Saburo had assured Anezaki that the situation was under control. It was a blatant lie.

That news did not make Matsu terribly happy. Instead he and Anezaki called up the Welfare Agency and arranged a test for Emiko during school, which lead to the issue of who would take the girl to this exam.

"I have a meeting during their only open slot." Matsu told Anezaki simply. "And you can't leave school, is Hiruma-chan's father available?"

"He's not," Anezaki explained, "but he has a friend that is."

"A friend?" Matsu blinked.

"The two have been extremely good friends for a long, long time." Anezaki assured Matsu. "Emiko calls this man 'uncle'."

"Ah, fair enough." Matsu nodded. "What was his name?"

"Takekura Gen." Anezaki answered. "I'll see them off personally."

"Good." Matsu nodded, pleased.

Anezaki returned to class to be confronted by Nozomi and Emiko.

"There isn't anything wrong with Hiru-chan!" Nozomi protested. "Why does she have to go get these special tests!?"

"I don't wanna miss class!" Emiko gasped. "I wanna be with Saka-chan!"

"Don't you want to go home with your Papa?" Anezaki asked. Both girls stared at her, wide-eyed. "You have to take these tests because they will help you get back to your Papa."

"Really?" Emiko blinked.

"That's what they are really for?" Nozomi asked.

"Yes." Anezaki assured both girls. "Now, Emiko-chan, your Uncle Musashi will be taking you to these tests, do you understand?"

"Okay!" Emiko nodded, recalling Takekura's face from the pictures her Papa had shown her.

"When are the tests?" Nozomi asked.

"Tomorrow." Anezaki answered. With that the girls were satisfied and went back to their seats. Anezaki made a silent prayer to whatever deity that would listen: would someone make sure to watch over Emiko during those exams and make sure that whatever disability she did have, was one that would help her return to her father.

_=_=_=_=_

Funny how people usually read what I have to say down here more than what I write up at the top…. Please review, lots of reviews and I'll post the second part ASAP.


	16. 14: You Found Me part 2

Author's Note: This chapter is way too long as a whole, so I broke it up into two parts. This is part two. Also the fact that I purposely do not follow what is happening with the adults in this story is on purpose. You'll find out why next chapter.

Song: You Found Me is still by Kelly Clarkson and I still do not own it!

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 14: You Found Me (part 2)

Takekura had always liked kids, in fact he always wanted little ones of his own. But today was one of those days he was very thankful he wasn't a father. Upon arrival at the school he was bombarded with questions as to whose parent he was, why he was wearing such a fancy suit, and was he a grandpa? Of course this made actually moving through the ground of children near impossible.

"Uncle Musashi!" Emiko's little voice carried over the other children, silencing them. Emiko was wearing a little red dress today and her hair had been pulled back into two pony tails. Beside her Nozomi looked at Takekura shyly. The other girl was wearing much more casual clothes: a blue tee-shirt and a brown skirt. The two girls ran up, weaving quickly through the small crowd.

"Emiko-chan." Takekura bent his knees and got a bit closer to the girl. Immediately he recognized Hiruma's features in the girl, the pointy ears, the pointy nose (though is was smaller proportionally than Hiruma's was), and the long fingers. The shape and size of her eyes came from her mother, but the piercing intelligent, calculating gaze, that was one that only Hiruma gave people. Right now she was wearing a small frown and looked like she was thinking really hard about something.

"Your hair is wrong." Emiko said after a moment. It took Takekura a moment to realize what she meant: he no longer had a Mohawk.

"Had to change it." Takekura admitted with a chuckle. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." Emiko nodded and trotted right up next to Takekura without any hesitation or fear. She was bold like her father.

"Wait!" Nozomi cried. "Hiru-chan you can't leave without talking to Anezaki-sensei!"

"She didn't say I had to talk to her." Emiko sounded sincerely confused by this.

"I have to talk to her." Takekura assured Emiko. The girl nodded after a moment.

"Ah! Musashi!" Anezaki came running up with a broom in one hand. The woman had been cleaning up a mess in the classroom when Takekura arrived.

"Manager's broom." Emiko pointed at the broom and said the words so casually as if it was an obvious fact.

"I'm not a manager." Anezaki told Emiko with a slightly forced smile. "And this isn't my broom."

"It might as well be!" One of the boys called as he ran off. Anezaki gave the boy a glare.

"As nostalgic as this is," Takekura began, "I don't have any clue where I'm supposed to be going."

"Here." Anezaki handed him a manila envelope. "That's all the paperwork you will need. The address is on the front."

"Ah." Takekura checked the front of the envelope quickly. "Is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think of." Anezaki paused and thought hard.

"What about Grandma?" Emiko asked, cocking her head.

"Ah! Get her back here before 1:30." Anezaki told Takekura.

"I think I can handle that." Takekura nodded. "Come on Emiko-chan, we have a big day ahead of us."

"Bye!" Emiko waved and started walking out of the school gates without warning. Takekura dashed after the girl, managing a wave to Anezaki.

"Bye Hiru-chan!" Nozomi waved. Anezaki waved as well and managed a tired smile for the two.

"Ah! Emiko! My car's this way!" Takekura called after the girl when she turned in the wrong direction. Emiko was a remarkably quick walker. She stopped and looked at Takekura with that intense gaze.

"Where are we going?" Emiko asked.

"This way," Takekura pointed in behind them, "here." He held out his hand. Emiko looked at his hand, confused.

"I don't hold hands with Papa." Emiko commented.

"Eh? Why not?" Takekura blinked, a little confused by this.

"Papa carries me." Emiko answered simply, as if it was obvious.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Takekura asked.

"Okay!" Emiko smiled and trotted over, clearly very pleased with the development. With ease Takekura lifted Emiko up onto his shoulders. He walked towards his car and got the two inside without any trouble. Emiko imitated the sounds the car made shamelessly during the car ride. Takekura faintly wondered how well her father tolerated that.

"Emiko-chan," Takekura began, "I have a request from your Papa."

"From Papa?" Emiko gave Takekura her full, undivided attention.

"He wants you to keep this on you the entire time you're getting your tests, okay?" Takekura held up a cell phone. It was green and had a camera and a little flashing red light on it.

"Okay." Emiko took the cell phone and examined it carefully.

"You can't tell anyone that you have it." Takekura continued, deadly serious.

"Ah, okay." Emiko nodded and put it in her little purse that she pulled seemingly out of nowhere.

_'You can inherit the ability to pull objects out of nowhere!?'_ Takekura was a little startled by this. Hiruma could pull guns out of nowhere and right now Takekura couldn't help but be struck with the image of Emiko doing the same. Now that was a scary thought.

The rest of the drive was conducted in silence. Upon arrival at the Welfare Center, Takekura picked Emiko up and carried her into the building. The receptionist recognized the appointment and sent them right on in to talk to the specialists. Emiko's eyes wandered over everything the two passed, taking in all the colors and details with ease. Takekura wondered faintly if her eye wandering had anything to do with the disability she had.

"Old Deimon guy!" An enthusiastic voice remarked from the other side of the desk. Takekura looked away from Emiko to meet eyes with Mizumachi Kengo. Mizumatchi was a tall, gangly man with bushy blond hair and cool blue eyes. Despite his almost American coloring, his features were distinctly Japanese. From what Takekura could tell, the man's personality hadn't changed much since high school: overly energetic and thoughtless with his choice of words. To match his happy, bright personality, Mizumachi had chosen to wear an orange t-shirt and forest green slacks.

"Mizumachi-san." Takekura bowed slightly as he recalled that Mizumatchi played football for the public services' team; of course the man had a job in a place like this.

"But Uncle Musashi is as old as Papa!" Emiko protested. "Papa isn't old!"

"Neh! Musashi-san isn't old, he just looks old, ya see." Mizumachi pointed at Takekura's face. "Doesn't he look like a Grandpa?"

Emiko studied Takekura's face for a moment. "Nope. He looks like a samurai."

"Hmm, he certainly does." Mizumachi observed as he gave Takekura another once over with his eyes.

"We're here for testing." Takekura reminded the two sternly.

"You're no fun." Mizumachi stuck his tongue out at Takekura childishly. This made Emiko laugh. "Ah and you're Hiruma Emiko-chan, neh?"

"Yeah." Emiko smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you!"

"Mizumachi Kengo." Mizumachi pointed at his face. "I'm going to be in charge of your tests today, so let's get along really well, okay?"

"Are they hard?" Emiko asked after a while. "Saka-chan says tests are supposed to be hard."

"We'll stop if it gets hard." Mizumachi assured her. "Now can you climb off your samurai uncle for a minute? I'm not allowed to test you when you're being held by someone else."

"Okay!" Emiko jumped out of Takekura's arms and sat down in the small chair that was clearly there for the test taker.

"Do I have to do anything?" Takekura asked as he returned his hands casually in his pockets.

"You have to go next door and talk to Kakei." Mizumachi told him.

"Kakei works here too?" Takekura hadn't been expecting that.

"He says he feels obligated to babysit me." Mizumachi rolled his eyes. "It's kind of ridiculous really."

"Good luck Emiko-chan." Takekura wished the little girl.

"Now, can you read?" Mizumachi asked her as he pulled some things out from his desk.

"Yes." With that answer, Mizumachi put a medium-sized card on the desk in front of her.

"Could you read this out loud for me please?" Mizumachi asked nicely, an encouraging and trusting expression on his face.

"El-ey-tee-tee-el-ee bee-oh pee-ee-ee-pee el-oh-es-tee aich-ee-ar es-aich-ee-ee-pee." Emiko called out the names of each letter quickly in one breath [1]. Mizumachi quickly set a hand on her shoulder before she could go onto the next sentence.

"Can you tell me what the words are?" Mizumachi asked her.

"No."

"Ah, you see most people call 'reading' the act of telling me what the letter all together mean." Mizumachi explained. "It's okay to be a little confused about that, it confuses me a bit."

"Ah!" Emiko nodded.

"Let's try something else…." Mizumachi grabbed a little spiral booklet. He opened up a page and put it in front of Emiko.

"Could you tell me a story about what's happening here?" Mizumachi pointed at a cartoon picture of two people reading newspapers on a bench.

"Two old men are reading the sports section and talking about their favorite football teams." Emiko answered simply. Mizumachi observed that Emiko called both people 'old men' despite the fact one of them was wearing a skirt and heels.

"I see! What about this picture?" Mizumachi pointed to a frog leaping off a lily pad and looking very upset about something.

"He's in a hurry to see the game." Emiko answered curtly.

"What game?" Mizumachi couldn't help but to ask.

"The Rice Bowl."

"Okay." Mizumachi nodded and showed her several pictures and watched her somehow make one to three sentence long comments about them that related whatever was happening in the picture to football. For several of the people pictures Emiko misread the expressions or completely overlooked certain facts (like the fact one of the two people on the bench was a woman). After they were done with the pictures Mizumachi put them away and looked Emiko in the eye. Her eyes quickly started wandering across the features of his face.

"Could you explain football too me?" Mizumachi asked her.

And Emiko launched off into one of her quickly spoken, convoluted explanations that revolved around talking about rules, people and events, her Papa, then back to rules. Mizumachi tried several times to ask a question or make a comment of his own, but Emiko didn't seem to want to stop for anything. Eventually Emiko did stop.

"Emiko-chan, you're awfully good at lecturing but not too good at taking questions." Mizumachi told her in a light, kind tone. "Sometimes others want to say something when you are talking to them."

"Sorry." Emiko bowed her head in a little apology. "Papa and Saka-chan just clap their hands if I go off…."

"Really?" Mizumachi was intrigued.

"I talk a lot sometimes." Emiko admitted with a blush. "So if Papa wants to stop me and tell me something he just claps his hands."

"Ah." Mizumachi nodded, understanding completely. "Well, we're done here I think."

"That was it?" Emiko looked really confused.

"Yup!" Mizumachi smiled brightly. "You did really well, thank you for your cooperation!"

"Ke ke ke!" Emiko laughed. Mizumachi shivered involuntarily despite the fact he was aware of Emiko's heritage. It hadn't really set in until she started cackling like her father did. With a slightly less enthusiastic smile, Mizumachi led Emiko into another room where Takekura was sitting in front of another man at a desk. The man had short black hair and amazing blue eyes. He was tall and strongly built and looked very serious, which matched the nice dark blue suit he had taken to wearing. Currently he was on the phone.

"Ma'am I need to interview you-!" The man started into the receiver but was cut off by the person on the other end yelling. With a sigh the man calmly hung up the phone and rubbed his temples.

"And that's why I took her in." Takekura commented blandly.

"Yeah, I can see that." The man rubbed his temples a bit more and finally noticed Mizumachi.

"Yo-ho! Kakei! We finished!" Mizumachi called over childishly. Emiko laughed again, making Kakei and Takekura shiver a little this time.

"Well?" Kakei asked looking at Mizumachi expectantly.

"Hiruma Emiko has high end ASD." Mizumachi answered simply and handed Kakei a few sheets of papers he had been carrying and writing on periodically during the entire test. Kakei looked over the papers quickly and nodded.

"ASD?" Takekura couldn't help but to ask.

"Autism Spectrum Disorder." Mizumachi answered. "I'm a specialist."

"High end?" Emiko asked.

"It means that your case is pretty mild and that you won't have any problems being in society later in life." Mizumachi explained simply. He then turned to Kakei. "It's probably Asperger's, I'll need the interviews to confirm that though."

"We have one done." Kakei gestured to Takekura. "And I just arranged the others, I'll have that all back to you by the end of the week."

"Excellent." Mizumachi smiled.

"I'm not sick?" Emiko asked hopefully.

"Neh, you're not sick, you're just a bit different, in a good way." Mizumachi assured her. "And me and Kakei are here to help you, okay? We're on your side."

"Okay." Emiko didn't sound completely convinced.

"We'll call you Friday to schedule a follow up." Kakei told Takekura seriously. "The meeting will be at Emiko's current residence."

"Why there?" Takekura was baffled by this.

"Because Saburo-san needs to listen." Kakei answered.

**-Two Saturdays later-**

"Ladies and gentlemen, as of this moment, Hiruma Emiko is herby diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of Autism Spectrum Disorder." Kakei announced to a group of adults. "This here is the official diagnosis." In Kakei's hand was a simple piece of paper.

_=_=_=_=_

Yes, ASD and Asperger's are real, I can assure you this personally. If you have any questions about either disorder, feel free to ask, I know a lot about both of them.

[1] – The actual sentence here was: Little Bo Peep lost her sheep. On another note I don't know any Japanese and I know this story takes place in Japan. So in reality Emiko is reading a not dissimilar sentence, reciting names of kanji rather than the words as their meaning implies.

As a warning, we back track a whee bit in the next chapter. Please comment!


	17. 15: Gomenasai

Author's Note: We back track a little to just after the phone conversation with Hiruma and Anezaki in the last chapter. School's picked up a great deal this term, so updates will probably once a week, if that.

Song: Gomenasai is by t.A.T.u., I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 15: Gomenasai

Hiruma put his cell phone away, having just finished speaking with Anezaki about his daughter. He felt terrible, having not been responsible enough to have taken Emiko in for testing himself. Sitting on the couch, he stared off into space, feeling like a completely selfish idiot.

"Hello?" Takekura Gen had let himself in after a good minute of solid pounding on the door. Hiruma jumped, clearly startled. Takekura frowned and closed the distance between himself and his friend quickly.

"Old man?" Hiruma muttered, perplexed by his friend's behavior.

"Hmm… you haven't been drinking." Takekura remarked as he pulled away. Hiruma snorted, indignant.

"Fucking drinking doesn't help anything." Hiruma reminded Takekura flatly. "It wouldn't have killed you to fucking knock."

"…I was pounding on the door." Takekura told his old friend simply. Hiruma in response simply stared, clearly not believing that he had just missed pounding on the door. Takekura shrugged slightly and sat down in the fat chair, pausing only to remove the football.

"…What is eating you today?" Takekura asked suddenly, his intense gaze made Hiruma squirm a little. It was clear that Hiruma was not going to be able to escape the question.

"I-" Hiruma began, a clear reluctance in his voice, "Emiko probably has some kind of minor disability."

"Really?" Takekura was surprised. He hadn't seen Emiko in person yet, but she seemed to be a smart, sharp girl from Anezaki's description of her.

"I've suspected she might have one for a few years now and I never got her tested." Hiruma admitted. "...Fucking mother is getting Emiko tested later."

"Oh." Takekura could picture what happened well enough. Hiruma was currently suffering from self-pity and guilt over his daughter's welfare. While he watched his friend quietly suffer, Takekura came to a small realization in his mind: Hiruma truly loved his daughter more than anything else in the world. The man had undergone a serious transformation for Emiko's sake and continued to quietly bare burdens for her sake; carrying burdens like that was something Takekura understood extremely well.

"…You know I haven't seen any pictures of Emiko." Takekura remarked casually. Hiruma's ears twitched slightly and his expression perked up a little. Pulling out of his slouch, Hiruma sat up straight and picked up a photo album from the table. With great care he set it down on his lap and opened it up then met Takekura's eyes. Wordlessly the invitation to sit next to Hiruma was exchanged and accepted.

Takekura looked down at the wedding pictures with a small frown.

"No one is happy." Takekura observed.

"No one was." Hiruma confirmed and flipped a few pages. Takekura didn't get good looks at the images, but he saw Chizue and Hiruma moving into their apartment together. He also saw flashes of Chizue being pregnant and that there was a notable absence from Hiruma in those pictures. Hiruma stopped and pointed at a picture of himself. He was standing in a hospital corridor wearing comfortable work out clothes and an expression that was somewhere between shock and awe. In Hiruma's arms was a small bundle of pink blankets that appeared to be wiggling slightly.

"When was this?" Takekura asked, awed himself that something so small could have done something like that to his friend.

"Remember that practice I cut just before I quit?" Hiruma asked rhetorically. "That's where I was." Hiruma pointed at another picture, this one of Emiko. The girl had pointy ears as a new born and big, almost black eyes. In the picture Hiruma was giving her his hand to touch and hold. Emiko was completely fixed on the shiny gold ring on Hiruma's hand, her little hands were trying to get it. Takekura couldn't help but to utter a soft 'aww' at the sight.

"Her head seems a little big." Takekura realized after a moment of studying the other baby pictures on the page. Emiko was not the sort of baby that liked to hold still it seemed, almost always some part of her was blurred and she hardly ever was facing the camera. There were of course pictures of Hiruma changing her diaper and looking like he was going to light more than one thing on fire for it.

"Really?" Hiruma sounded surprised. This didn't surprise Takekura though, it's not like Hiruma spent a lot of time around babies that weren't Emiko.

"Yeah. Um, hey how did you take that?" Takekura pointed at one of the pictures in which Hiruma and Emiko were doing something together. Hiruma pointed at a corner of the ceiling where a camera had been taped discretely.

"I set it up to take a picture once an hour," Hiruma explained, "I got a lot of crap but once in a while I'd get something like this." A long finger tapped an image of Emiko holding a book up for her Papa to read while he bent down to take it from her.

"Is it still running?" Takekura asked, eyeing the camera wearily.

"No." Hiruma answered simply. "Pointless if she's not here." It was obvious who Hiruma was speaking of. Takekura reached over and turned the page, revealing more pictures of Emiko. She took interests in parts of objects and seemed to have bad habits of taking shiny things and holding them with her hands, even knifes.

"…Why did you marry Chizue?" Takekura asked.

"The bastard promised me he'd stay out of my life if I married her." Hiruma answered after a long moment. "And her old man promised her that he'd get her fucking mother off her back. It was most convenient for us at the time."

"A marriage of convenience." Takekura stated and stopped looking at the pictures while he thought back. "Did you love her?"

"No." Hiruma was quick and firm with his answer. "We weren't even friends, we just had a simple understanding."

"…How'd she get pregnant then?" Takekura couldn't help but to ask.

"Her idea." Hiruma answered, sounding defensive. "Her fucking idea."

The resulting silence was broken by knocking on the door. Hiruma frowned, not having been expecting any other visitors, and stood up to deal with it. Takekura waited until Hiruma had left the room before a small smile came across his face and he casually stuck his pinky finger into his ear to pick it.

Hiruma gasped slightly when he saw Kurita at the door. Kurita was carrying several bags of sweets and the like. Currently the old Center was smiling brightly.

"Hiruma!" Kurita smiled happily. Hiruma simply moved to the side and invited his other friend in. "I brought some snacks, where can I set them?"

"The kitchen." Hiruma answered then began to lead Kurita towards it, feeling more than a little off balance. Takekura came out of the living area and silently followed his two friends, unable to stop grinning.

Kurita set the bags down on the table and began to unload them while Hiruma started to make a lot of coffee.

"Ne, it's been so long since it was the three of us like this." Kurita chatted while he continued to unpack the cakes. Takekura quickly opened up the cupboards, finding some plates and mugs (Hiruma's organization of a household hadn't changed in the time he'd been alone with Emiko). Hiruma sat down at the table and took a deep, almost invisibly shuddering breath.

"Fatty, how did you know where I live?" Hiruma asked.

"Mamori told me." Kurita answered simply. "Is that a problem?"

"How did you know I was meeting the old man at this time?" Hiruma ignored the question.

"Eh?" Kurita was confused. "Musashi told me that the three of us were going to meet up here today…."

Hiruma proceeded to glare at Takekura.

"I was under the impression that that was the plan." Takekura told Hiruma innocently.

"W-well we shouldn't worry about it now!" Kurita changed the subject in an attempt to lighten the mood. "We should be catching up!"

"What kind of work do you do now?" Takekura asked, sincerely curious.

"The same thing I was doing for you, just through a third party agency." Hiruma answered.

"Oh! I brought you mint sugar-free gum!" Kurita found the packet at the bottom of one of his bags. "Here!"

Hiruma took the packet of gum from his friend; it was even the kind he always used to buy. The scent was nostalgic, making Hiruma remember all the things he had thrown away. First there was the flop with not getting Emiko tested then there was the realization of having thrown away all sorts of good things.

It wasn't until Kurita pulled Hiruma into a tight, warm hug, that he even realized he had started crying. Once Hiruma was aware of the fact, he began to sob in earnest, apologizing profusely with each sob. He had made many mistakes and the guilt of the damage they had done onto others had finally caught up with him.

"It's okay," Kurita assured Hiruma, rubbing small circles on Hiruma's back, "we forgive you."

Takekura had never seen Hiruma cry about anything before, but Kurita had. Ever since Hiruma became Kurita's friend, the former would always approach the latter with his emotional issues. For years, Kurita had been Hiruma's shoulder and emotional pillar. Takekura simply pretended he didn't exist, after all when a man bleeds for the sake of others the best thing to do was to pretend you didn't see it.

After a while Hiruma's sobs finally calmed down and Kurita let go of the hug. Still sniffling, Hiruma went over to the kitchen sink and washed his face, trying to get rid of the puffy eyes and tear lines. Kurita simply stood next to Hiruma and set a warm hand on his friend's shoulder.

"…It really has been a long while." Kurita remarked absently, looking out the small kitchen window at the city bellow.

"Yeah." Hiruma agreed while he toweled off his face. "…Look fatty, old man I need your help."

"Our help?" Takekura asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I need to write a letter to fucking mother to get Emiko tested for a disability." Hiruma explained. "I don't know what to fucking put in it."

"Surely she told you what should be in it." Kurita pointed out.

"I need a fucking content checker." Hiruma corrected his meaning.

"I think we can handle that." Takekura nodded. "Anything else?"

"…I'm going to reopen the custody case." Hiruma explained after another moment.

"Reopen the case?" Kurita asked. There was an unspoken question as to why there wasn't any blackmailing.

"If I blackmailed the fucking judge then the fucking hag would be right." Hiruma explained. "'Sides, I promised Emiko I would just change the game, not break the rules."

"You need to break her arguments." Takekura figured out what Hiruma was thinking of.

"Exactly." Hiruma waved the two back into the living room where Hiruma fired up his laptop. Within a few minutes Hiruma had the trial playing.

It turned out that Saburo, despite her lack of being able to deliver a good argument without looking like a fool, actually had some interesting points to have made. The first point was that Emiko behaved rather strangely for a child of her age, Saburo attributed this to Hiruma's childrearing. Secondly, Hiruma's reputation as a blackmailer and menace to society proceeded him in the courtroom, Saburo put a large amount of emphasis on this point, making every time she suddenly sounded foolish look like it was Hiruma's manipulation. She also argued that Hiruma couldn't provide a maternal love, being a man who was raised without a mother himself.

On the other hand Hiruma's argument wasn't as strong. His first argument was that he did try to provide some maternal love for Emiko by having her be close to her grandmother, unfortunately Emiko expressed distaste for visits, so Hiruma tried to lessen them. That's when Saburo had gotten particularly angry and took him to court. After Hiruma explained the story, he also admitted that he didn't have a lot of experience with children and that he loved his daughter dearly. He confessed that he might not be the best parent for Emiko, but he was better than Saburo. He also remarked that Saburo was nursing a husband with cancer and trying to run his company at the same time and wouldn't have much time for Emiko.

"If Emiko's odd behaviors could be explained by a disability," Takekura began after watching the end of the trial footage, "then most of Saburo's argument falls apart."

"And it makes her look ignorant because she didn't realize that was the problem." Kurita pointed out wisely.

Hiruma smirked and pulled out a word processor and began typing. In the world of football, every good team loses a few games every now and then. Even though he was walking into the second half behind, it never intimidated Hiruma. He always had a plan, a counter attack to make, and a comeback victory to grab.

And now the game clock had started again, the second half begun.

"Ke ke ke."

_=_=_=_=_

This is the first installment of what the adults were doing during Emiko's testing. Please comment.


	18. 16: Song From An American Movie part 2

Author's Note: I know most don't read this, but I'll say something here anyways. Pardon the lateness, school picked up and I simply didn't have time. To add to this finding a chapter name was the hardest one for this chapter. I changed it several times. I hope you enjoy it.

Song: Songs From An American Movie (Part 2) is by Everclear, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 16: Songs From An American Movie (Part 2)

Numb, that was a good word to describe how Hiruma had been feeling as of late. Having been forgiven had eased some of the burdens on his mind and heart, but he still felt lonely. Every morning Hiruma found himself waking up and going into Emiko's room, hoping to find his girl there in her bed, sleeping peacefully. When Hiruma found nothing he would go inside the room and smell the sheets, trying to recall Emiko's laughing and smile. All of the photographs and recordings he had made over the years didn't feel real or accurate enough. He hoped he was doing the right thing, he hoped that things really were getting better.

Work, Hiruma quickly discovered, made a decent distraction. But even then it didn't always help with the ease the emptiness. For example, today he'd been handed a dying company's finances. Hiruma had been spending the last three hours trying to find a happy ending that didn't involve a mountain of debt or just firing everyone. Hiruma sighed and powered off his laptop, deciding a break is what he needed most right now. He picked up his cell phone to check the time only to have it start ringing in his hand. Of course he promptly answered it.

"Hello?" Hiruma asked into the receiver.

_"Hiruma-kun. I have the time of Emiko's appointment."_ Anezaki announced on the other end without introducing herself. She sounded proud of him, making him feel a little bit better. Since he had been expecting the call, he sat down and pulled his laptop back onto his lap.

"Really?" Hiruma quickly turned his laptop back on and pulled out his schedule. Anezaki had remarked earlier that he was probably going to have to drive Emiko to the appointment, something Hiruma was determined to do. Anezaki told him the date and time and without any further ado, Hiruma found himself looking at his schedule for that day and time.

"…How long is this going to take?" Hiruma asked worriedly; he had a meeting about half an hour after the designated time that he could not miss.

_"I don't know."_ Anezaki admitted. _"They didn't give me an estimate either."_

"I can't do it." Hiruma admitted after a minute, having spent that minute trying not to scream. It wasn't fair that his fucking boss demanded he actually show up on that day and time.

_"That is a problem."_ Anezaki commented after a moment. She was trying to fill the silence caused by Hiruma's anger. Forcing himself to calm down and think about the situation, Hiruma thought about alternative solutions to the problem.

"I think I know someone else who can do it." Hiruma announced after a good bit of thinking. "Let me make a phone call." Hiruma hung up and quickly dialed Takekura.

"Old man, I need a favor." Hiruma cut to the chase.

_"Already demanding favors?"_ Takekura chuckled on the other end.

"I can't take Emiko to her test, I need you to do it." Hiruma told Takekura curtly.

_"When is this?"_ Takekura asked. Hiruma quickly relayed the information. _"I'll make some time, but you owe me for this."_

"I'll pay you back with fucking interest." Hiruma assured his friend.

_"You can start paying me back by getting your ass back in the office."_ Takekura wasn't joking.

"That's going to take some time." Hiruma forewarned his friend as he powered off his laptop. "I'll work on it."

_"Good."_ Takekura smiled on the other end.

"And I need you to give her something while you're picking her up." Hiruma added, the final details of his plan were whirring in his mind.

_"Is this thing big?"_ Takekura asked wearily.

"No." Hiruma assured his friend. "Not at all."

**-later, the day of the test-**

After arriving at the Welfare Center and making sure that Mizumachi was capable of handling Emiko, Takekura walked out into the hall. A glance to his right showed him an office with Kakei's name on it. Takekura walked right into the office, as the door was half open. Kakei sat behind a large wooden desk. He was currently looking over some papers.

"Hello." Takekura greeted Kakei to get the man's attention. Kakei glanced up from his papers a little uneasy then looked surprised.

"Why isn't Hiruma here?" Kakei blurted out, completely surprised.

"Work." Takekura shrugged.

"Ah." Kakei nodded and motioned Takekura to sit down. "Do you know Emiko-chan well?"

"Not really, I just met her in person this morning." Takekura sat down.

"Do you have experience with children other than Emiko?" Kakei had obviously started interviewing; his gaze had become very serious.

"I do." Takekura nodded.

"Does Emiko exhibit any strange or abnormal behaviors?" Kakei asked.

"She told me my hair was wrong when we first met." Takekura answered. "I think her father's shown her pictures of me when I was playing high school football."

"Ah." Kakei nodded.

"Her eyes wander a lot." Takekura added, recalling how Emiko acted in the car. "And she rocks a lot."

"Describe this 'rocking'." Kakei was writing some things down.

"It was kind of like this…." Takekura leaned forward and backward, rocking a little in his chair.

"Was there anything else of note?" Kakei asked.

"Yeah, she doesn't like holding hands." Takekura recalled. "She'd rather be carried."

Kakei nodded and wrote down a few more things.

"That's all?" Kakei asked.

"Well, she can pull things out of nowhere like her father." Takekura added after a moment of thought.

"Pull things out of nowhere?" Kakei blinked, not quite following that.

"You know how Hiruma was always pulling guns and cards out of nowhere?" Takekura waited for the slow nod. "Emiko can do that."

Kakei looked somewhat mortified. Takekura correctly guessed that Kakei was having the same thought he had had in the car earlier: the image of Emiko pulling firearms out of nowhere.

"It was just a purse." Takekura assured Kakei and the man looked relieved. "I've been over to Hiruma's apartment, he keeps the guns well away from his daughter."

"How responsible of him." Kakei muttered as he wrote down a few more things. "…Looks like I'm going to have to schedule some other interviews."

"Sorry." Takekura apologized, knowing full well he wasn't a good person to talk to about Emiko.

"No, I would have had to schedule several interviews even if Hiruma-san had been here." Kakei assured Takekura. "And this way I can visit Hiruma-san's home and see for myself the environment he raised Emiko-chan in."

"Ah." Takekura nodded.

"Don't mind me, I have to make some phone calls." Kakei bowed his head slightly and proceeded to call Hiruma's cell phone. It rang several times before there was an answer.

_"Whoever you are, make it fucking quick!"_ Hiruma hissed into the phone.

"H-hiruma-san!" Kakei muttered, surprised to see the behaviors of the man hadn't changed much. "Uh, this is Kakei Shun from the Welfare Center-"

_"Oh! Hello."_ Hiruma sounded mildly surprised to be talking to Kakei. The annoyance and anger that had been in his voice was now gone.

"I need to schedule an interview with you," Kakei explained to Hiruma quickly, "for the rest of the diagnosis process of course."

_"Anytime works for me." _Hiruma assured Kakei.

"Really?" Kakei didn't sound convinced.

_"I will make fucking time if I don't have it."_ Hiruma almost growled in annoyance. _"Now tell me when my interview is!"_

Kakei asked if it could take place tomorrow at Hiruma's apartment.

_"Yes. Don't be fucking late."_ Hiruma hung up.

"He's pissy when he's in a hurry." Takekura assured Kakei. "And can be very overboard when it comes to Emiko."

"Ah." Kakei nodded dumbly and quickly called Anezaki. That interview was scheduled for after school today. Kakei also tried to contact the family doctor, but the man was currently seeing one of his patients. So Kakei simply left a message with the nurse and hoped it would get through. Kakei quickly called the school to arrange a date where he or Mizumachi could come in and observe Emiko during school. The principal proved to be very cooperative, to Kakei's relief.

Then Kakei had the 'pleasure' of calling Saburo. Takekura had shut the book he had taken out.

"Hello, is this Saburo Haruka-san?" Kakei asked politely when someone picked up.

_"It is,"_ the voice of an old woman confirmed, _"who is this?"_

"I am Kakei Shun from the Welfare Center," Kakei began quickly and professionally, "I'm not soliciting, so please don't hang up on me."

_"Really?"_ Saburo didn't sound convinced.

"I'm calling about your granddaughter, Hiruma Emiko-chan." Kakei explained. "Her father sent us a very concerned letter asking us to test her for a disability."

_"Her father is an idiot who doesn't know a thing about raising children."_ Saburo scoffed.

"As a professional physiatrist that diagnosis mental disabilities on a regular basis I have to take all requests seriously and see them through until the end." Kakei told Saburo simply. "I was wondering when you would be available for an interview."

_"There isn't anything wrong with Emiko other than her father's folly."_ Saburo told Kakei curtly.

"Ma'am I need to interview you-!" Kakei was cut off by a dial tone.

"And that's why I brought her in." Takekura commented blandly.

"Yeah, I can see that." Kakei muttered as he rubbed his temples. Glancing up he noticed Mizumachi and Emiko.

"Yo-ho! Kakei! We finished!" Mizumachi called over childishly. Emiko laughed again, making Kakei and Takekura shiver a little. The girl was Hiruma's child, no mistake.

"Well?" Kakei asked, waiting for Mizumachi to give his initial diagnosis.

"Hiruma Emiko has high end ASD." Mizumachi answered simply, to Kakei this was a sign that Mizumachi was almost one hundred percent certain of his diagnosis. Kakei took the papers from Mizumachi and looked them over. The observations on recorded there matched up from what he could gather from the short interview he had just had with Takekura and also matched up with an ASD diagnosis. Kakei nodded.

"ASD?" Takekura asked, sounding confused.

"Autism Spectrum Disorder." Mizumachi answered.

Kakei made a note to take some questionnaires for the people he planned to interview. It never hurt to be completely sure about these things.

**-the next day, outside Hiruma's apartment-**

Opening the door revealed a nervous Kakei Shun in a snappy blue suit. Hiruma was wearing simple, but tight black attire he was fond of, it made Kakei wonder how much Hiruma had changed over the years. With a nod Hiruma silently invited the man inside. Kakei politely took off his shoes and put on a pair of the guest slippers (which looked like they hadn't had much use). Once in the slippers, Hiruma began to lead Kakei into the living room. Kakei, being extremely observant, noticed that Hiruma looked tired, worn, and somewhat depressed. It made Kakei wonder what exactly the details were surrounding Emiko's current living situation.

Hiruma sat down on the couch tiredly and looked at Kakei expectantly. Kakei wasn't sure what to say to the ex-quarterback. Even though Kakei had been an acquaintance of Hiruma's since high school, he never really knew the man. The few things he did know about Hiruma was that the more you knew about him, the more you realized you really didn't know him. From all Kakei could safely say was that Hiruma was wicked smart and very persistent about victory. These two facts weren't going to help him much.

That's when Kakei remembered that the Welfare Center gave him a stupid little spiel to say for a reason. It made an excellent, yet predictable default.

"Hello, I am Kakei Shun from the Welfare Center. I'm here following up on the letter you sent us earlier requesting that we test your daughter for any mental abnormities. Yesterday, Mizumachi Kengo, one of our specialists, gave your daughter some basic preliminary tests and he believes your daughter has ASD. Today I am going to continue the tests so that we can completely and fully diagnose your daughter." Kakei ran through his little introduction. It was his first time having it be so awkward; Hiruma's expectant, piercing gaze had made Kakei stumble more than once.

"ASD?" Hiruma sounded a little curious. He hadn't been able to contact Takekura and get the cell phone back from him. Currently he knew nothing about Emiko's condition other than he needed to be interviewed.

"Autism Spectrum Disorder." Kakei explained. "I don't really want to explain the details of it unless I am one hundred percent certain that is what your daughter has."

"That's fair." Hiruma nodded, approving. Kakei was able to relax a little. He took a second to glance around the room he was in. Kakei saw Emiko's toys and couldn't help but to smile. They were safe toys, but had been clearly used and played with. Maybe Hiruma wasn't a bad father.

"There are a few things I need to do besides interview you," Kakei continued, having found some confidence, "I need you to fill out this questionnaire and I would like to look around the apartment and see if I can make some observations by looking at Emiko-chan's things."

"What kind of observations?" Hiruma frowned, not liking this development.

"Autistic children can be very picky about things like toys, colors and fabric choices for their clothes. They often react badly to changes in the routine." Kakei explained. "I would be more convinced Emiko had ASD if I saw signs like this in her daily life."

"Doesn't like change?" Hiruma muttered, his mind going back to a memory of when Emiko was four. Hiruma had needed a bit of a break, so he had left Emiko with her grandparents for the weekend so that he could catch up on work and sleep. During that weekend Hiruma had neglected to shave his face and when he came to pick Emiko up she had burst into tears at the sight of his face. That hadn't gone over well with Saburo and the neighbors.

"-iruma-san, are you finished daydreaming?" Kakei asked, hoping Hiruma would come out of his memories soon.

"Yes!" Hiruma assured Kakei quickly, the tips of his pointy ears turning red in slight embarrassment.

"What were you remembering?" Kakei asked.

"I'm not going to fucking tell you!" Hiruma snapped back.

"What if telling me helped me diagnose your daughter?" Kakei gave Hiruma a firm glare, shutting the other man up. "If I ask you questions, I expect honest answers."

"Here." Kakei handed Hiruma the questionnaire. "Typically we have these done before we have a specialist look at the child in question, but with Saburo-san's inability to cooperate and the fact that you aren't legally her guardian anymore, the only person who was able to fill this out was Anezaki-san."

"Ah." Hiruma nodded and glanced through the questionnaire. They asked questions about Emiko's early childhood behaviors. Things like fixations with certain parts of toys, late speech development, and liking routines filled the questionnaire.

"Normally since you no longer have custody of Emiko, we wouldn't involve you, but you're the only one who can answer the questions about her early development, so you have to be questioned." Kakei added.

"I see." Hiruma grumbled, not pleased that his involvement was an exception to the rule, rather than the rule itself.

"Would it be okay if I looked around while you filled that out?" Kakei asked. Hiruma paused and thought about it.

"Only if you stay the hell out of my bedroom." Hiruma said firmly.

"…Is it clear which room that is?" Kakei couldn't help but to ask.

"It's the only door Emiko hasn't drawn on yet." Hiruma answered. "I'm going to go make some fucking coffee."

"Okay then." Kakei muttered awkwardly and wandered into the back of the apartment. Finding Emiko's room (the only place of real interest for the diagnosis) was fairly easy. There was crayon all over the door and stickers too. Hiruma had left the door open, so it was fairly easy to glance in and confirm that the room, indeed, did belong to a small child. Kakei flipped on the switch and had a look around.

Emiko's room was littered with stuffed animals of various kinds. A little searching around proved to Kakei that Emiko did not own any humanoid dolls. There was a small bookshelf full of children's books with a few football-related books tucked in on one side. The football books both had a lot of pictures in them, so Kakei could see why Emiko liked them. Next was the dresser, inside the top drawer Kakei found panties and shut it immediately, he was not perverted and looking at shirts would tell him the same things that looking at the panties would have. The rest of the dresser revealed what Kakei had supposed to be true. Emiko was fond of brightly colored cotton clothes that were loose. She owned little in the way of skirts and dresses, they must have been for what few formal occasions Hiruma took her out on. Emiko also had a decent collection of ribbons and hair ties.

The sheets on Emiko's bed were made out of the same material as her clothes. Kakei then turned and examined Emiko's desk, pulling open the drawers to see that they had been stuffed to the brim full of things one would find around a house. A coffee cup here, a random electronic device there, a can of shaving cream, and what was probably one of Hiruma's shoes. Kakei made a note to ask about that.

"Not leaving any detail out are you?" Hiruma asked from behind Kakei, startling the man. In one hand Hiruma was sipping a steaming mug, full of coffee. Hiruma's other hand also had a steaming cup of coffee in it, this one was being offered to Kakei. Politely Kakei took the coffee, even if he didn't like it too much and sipped it a little. To Kakei's surprise Hiruma actually chose a tolerable brew.

"Is this your shoe?" Kakei held up the offending shoe.

"Yeah." Hiruma admitted, taking the shoe from Kakei. Judging by the look on Hiruma's face, that shoe had been missing for a while now. Hiruma glanced down at the open drawer and blinked. He had thought Emiko had stopped hording things in her desk a few years back, looks like he was dead wrong.

"How long has this been going on?" Kakei asked as he pulled out the other drawers, all completely full.

"Years." Hiruma answered. Kakei wrote that down.

"I'm done here," Kakei stood up, "are you done with that questionnaire?"

Hiruma handed him the filled out questionnaire instead of responding. Kakei and Hiruma walked back into the living room where Kakei read over the questionnaire answers. Emiko didn't start talking until she was almost three, she had a big head as a baby, wandering eyes, hard to tell if she was paying attention, almost no eye contact, she got confused about word meanings frequently, she was good at remembering things, liked looking at pictures a lot, and didn't really know how to read despite Hiruma's efforts. All of these were signs of ASD.

"Well?" Hiruma asked.

"Almost a text book case." Kakei remarked. "Does Emiko throw tantrums when her environment changes?"

"Sometimes." Hiruma admitted.

"Does she bite?" Kakei asked. Hiruma showed him a scar on his hand from where Emiko had clearly bit him in the past.

"Does Emiko show obsessive behavior about anything?" Kakei asked.

"Football." Hiruma chuckled slightly.

"I'm not too surprised." Kakei nodded. "Does Emiko talk to herself?"

"Maybe?" Hiruma answered, unsure. "Not when she thinks I can hear her."

"Explain."

"She likes to wander off into some imaginary world in her head." Hiruma explained. "When she's there she'll talk to herself."

"Ah okay." Kakei wrote down several more things. It was a common trait in autistic people to completely cut themselves off from reality as a coping mechanism (for autistic people reality is extraordinarily stressful). From what Kakei could see, Hiruma tried to keep his daughter in reality with him the majority of the time, that was a good thing.

"Okay?" Hiruma blinked once. "Are you sure that's just 'okay'?"

"It's a coping mechanism for her," Kakei explained, "she finds things you and I take for granted very stressful."

"What things?" Hiruma couldn't help but to ask, wanting to know what caused his daughter distress.

"Socializing for one." Kakei answered. "I really don't want to be giving you details at this point, we're not done with the diagnosis yet."

"You sound like you think you're done." Hiruma gave Kakei a flat look.

"Part of it is done." Kakei answered. "I am certain that Emiko-chan has ASD. What I am not sure of is whether or not she has Asperger's Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism. The treatment plans differ non-negligibly, so it's critical that I know which one."

"…Then you better damn explain to me what you just fucking said." Hiruma didn't add a threat on the end of his statement, it was there in his voice, face, and body.

"ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorders is a group of three disorders. Asperger's Syndrome, Autism Disorder, and something we call 'PDD-NOS'; that stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified, I am sure Emiko-chan does not have that one. All three disorders describe some form of impaired social development."

"Social development?" Hiruma sounded unnerved. It made sense, Emiko's comprehension of spoken language wasn't too good, not in comparison to her other mental abilities.

"That's why we have treatment plans." Kakei continued. "With a little hard work, patience, and a lot of love, Emiko-chan can grow into a normal, functioning member of society."

"It can be cured?" Hiruma asked, a little relief flowing into his voice.

"No." Kakei corrected. "ASD is incurable, what can be done is that the individual with it can learn ways to compensate for it."

"…I see." Hiruma sighed. He felt guilty, blaming himself for Emiko's issues. Kakei saw Hiruma wearing the expression that most parents wore they the found out their child had an incurable disorder.

"It's not your fault." Kakei told Hiruma plainly. "We don't know what causes ASD specifically, but I can tell you that ASD is inborn and genetic in nature, nothing you did as a parent made Emiko-chan develop ASD."

"Nothing I did?" Hiruma stared at Kakei.

"Nothing your wife did either." Kakei added. "We're pretty sure that ASD isn't caused by changes in the uterus environment. It just happened by chance."

"By chance?" Hiruma said slowly, trying to swallow the information.

"By chance, no body's fault." Kakei repeated slowly and intentionally.

"And her funny behaviors can be explained by the ASD?" Hiruma asked.

"Most of them." Kakei assured Hiruma.

"And we can teach her to be normal." Hiruma stated, trying to get all the important facts in his head straight.

"More normal." Kakei corrected slightly and watched Hiruma nod as he thought about it hard. Hiruma frowned slightly and rubbed his temples.

"Are you okay?" Kakei couldn't help but to ask.

"Emiko's current guardian believes that Emiko's all fucked up because I mis-raised her." Hiruma explained simply. "The court fucking agreed with her."

"What!?" Kakei gasped. "That's completely incorrect!"

"Yes, it is." Hiruma agreed.

"Shit!" Kakei hissed, realizing the most of the scope of the situation surrounding Emiko's custody. "Shit! This is really bad!"

Hiruma said nothing as he watched Kakei lose his cool.

"If they moved her guardianship because they mistook ASD for abuse-!" Kakei paled slightly. "…Your daughter is suffering and not getting treatment. Shit! Shit!"

"I would prefer it if you didn't break anything in my house." Hiruma commented as Kakei found himself making a grab for the nearest object (namely a pillow from the couch). After hearing the comment Kakei stopped and stood there a little embarrassed.

"…I don't partake in blackmail anymore." Hiruma added while Kakei fidgeted awkwardly.

"Pardon?" Kakei stared, stunned.

"This isn't going to bite you in the fucking ass later." Hiruma told Kakei sharply.

"Oh." Kakei was still embarrassed.

"I'm going to have the court revisit the case," Hiruma paused his explanation to take a sip of coffee, "are you willing to sit on my side?"

"…Yeah." Kakei nodded. For the first time in all the years he had known Hiruma, he finally connected with the man. He was a father that wanted what was best for his child, something Kakei could honor and support.

"Are you done?" Hiruma asked.

"Yeah." Kakei nodded and began to pack up his things. "I'll call you within the next two weeks when we have an official diagnosis."

"Thanks." Hiruma nodded.

"…Good luck getting her back." Kakei wished Hiruma as he changed back into his shoes and left.

Hiruma nodded and shut the door behind Kakei. He sat down and looked at his laptop. Within a few moments Hiruma was doing research, detailed research, on ASD and its treatments. The more research he did, the better he felt. There was hope that things would get better, eventually.

After turning off his laptop Hiruma checked the time. It was extremely late.

_'Emiko's probably going to bed soon….'_ With a blink Hiruma smiled and left the apartment. He quietly drove across town, parking two blocks away from Saburo's house. He ran quietly in the dark, climbing over the fence and up the tree in the backyard with a practiced ease. Emiko wasn't in bed just yet, she was sitting on her bed, rocking back and forth her eyes unfocused. Hiruma frowned, not liking that development. Carefully he climbed out on the branch and unlatched the window. Emiko jolted, the sudden noise startling her back into reality. She looked out the window and saw her dad open it up and step into the room.

Emiko rushed over to his side and found herself pulled into a tight embrace. Hiruma breathed in Emiko's scent, relaxing fully for the first time in days. He ran his long fingers through her fine hair and felt her relax into his touch.

"Papa…." Emiko cooed happily.

"You did a good job on your tests." Hiruma told Emiko gently. "As soon as Kakei-san finishes the results, I'll be able to get the court to look at what happened again."

"I wanna go home now." Emiko protested with a yawn.

"I think you should go to bed first." Hiruma told her as he laid her down on the bed.

"Ah!" Emiko cried, wincing when Hiruma set her down.

"What's wrong?" Hiruma asked worriedly.

"I was bad." Emiko explained quietly. Hiruma knew that Saburo probably wasn't above giving spankings.

"Get some rest, it will feel better in the morning." Hiruma assured Emiko as he tucked her in.

"Papa...." Emiko looked like she was in pain, it broke Hiruma's heart doing this to her.

"I'll stay here as long as I can." Hiruma promised her. "Please go to sleep, things will be better tomorrow." Emiko nodded and shut her eyes.

At the sound of footsteps Hiruma slipped his hand out of Emiko's and all but dove out the window. Saburo came into the room and frowned. Why was that bloody window open again?

_=_=_=_=_

All the details about ASD in this chapter are true. The whole looking around Emiko's room is not typical of a diagnosis test, I did that to reveal a bit about Emiko's behavior that would be typically observed from the parents' input into the diagnosis. The questionnaires are apart of the test.

Sorry about Hiruma angst, it just fit the song and the issues in this chapter best. Please comment.


	19. 17: Keep Trying

Author's Note: Sorry this is a little late, hectic school week.

Song: Keep Trying is by Utada Hiraku, I do not own it. You can google a translation of the lyrics (it is findable!).

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 17: Keep Trying

When Emiko walked up to the school gates the next morning, Mizumachi was standing at the gate chatting with Anezaki. Today Mizumachi was wearing a light blue polo shirt and some dark green slacks, a lot less casual than he had been yesterday at the Welfare Center. Emiko didn't say anything as her grandmother walked the two of them up to the Anezaki.

"Is this your boyfriend, Anezaki-sensei?" Saburo asked, innocently curious.

"No-no!" Mizumachi waved his hand in a firm denial several times. "We're old comrades, that's all."

"Comrades?" Saburo blinked, a little confused by the choice of word.

"We used to play football together." Anezaki answered simply. "Well, he used to play and I was the manager."

"Not the same team!" Emiko protested, clearly a little confused.

"What!?" Saburo stared at her granddaughter, why would that girl know some fact like that?

"We were on Team Japan together." Mizumachi reminded Emiko simply. "Though during the normal season I played for Kyoshin and she played for Deimon."

"Ah." Emiko nodded, content with the explanation.

"Well that was in the past." Anezaki assured Saburo quickly, knowing the woman had an extreme dislike of the sport. "Come on Emiko-chan, class starts soon."

"Okay." Emiko trotted past Anezaki into the school building without any further prompting.

Saburo didn't say anything, but shot Mizumachi a glare, then walked away.

"That's one grumpy old lady!" Mizumachi remarked, stunned.

"Is there anything I need to do special today?" Anezaki asked, returning back to their previous conversation about what had to be done today concerning Emiko's testing.

"Tell the students to ignore me." Mizumachi answered quickly. "I'll work better if I'm not getting asked a lot of questions."

"Okay." Anezaki nodded and then led Mizumachi into the classroom. All 13 of her students had sat down and where currently chatting. In the case of Emiko she was trying to explain to Nozomi what a football manager was. Nozomi was expressing more interest in this conversation than she had with anything else football-related so far.

"Good morning everyone!" Anezaki started class without any further ado. "This here is Mizumachi-san, he's here to do some observations. So he'll be sitting in the back of the classroom and watching. Because he's working, I would like it if you acted normally and pretended he wasn't there."

"Why do we have an 'observations' here?" One of the boys asked.

"What's observations mean?" Another boy asked.

"Observation just means I look around at things and don't say anything." Mizumachi assured the children with a bright smile. He walked to the back of the classroom and took a seat on the floor in the back. He had a clipboard with some paper with him, but it had been set to the side. Anezaki nodded to Mizumachi once and started class right up. For the first part of the lesson all of the students (except Emiko) shot at least one look at Mizumachi. The latter would just simply smile and point and Anezaki and whatever she was doing. Once that part was over all of the children decided Mizumachi was being remarkably boring and paid attention as if he wasn't there.

Of course Mizumachi noticed this and picked up the clipboard and began to quietly write on it. He listened to the lesson with half an ear to make sure he wasn't writing when Anezaki wasn't talking. Mizumachi watched Emiko carefully, looking for the signs he knew all too well.

Emiko's eyes spent a lot of time wandering around the room, often landing on a particular poster about colors. She was able to parrot information back at Anezaki fairly well, but when Anezaki asked her what she meant, Emiko had some difficultly. Usually the other students, particularly the boys, would laugh at her when she made comprehension mistakes. Anezaki was quick to scold and firm about it. Emiko just looked even more confused, not knowing why people were laughing or why they were getting in trouble for it.

"Isn't laughing good?" Emiko asked Anezaki who was in the middle of a reprimand. The room fell into silence at Emiko's words.

"Papa said that people laugh when they are happy." Emiko continued. "Laughing is a good thing!"

"Emiko-chan," Anezaki began, trying to withhold a sigh, "laughter is only good when it's not hurtful to others."

"I'm not hurting." Emiko looked over her body then around at the other students. "No one else is either."

"Emiko-chan, we'll talk about this later." Anezaki assured the girl. "Right now we have things to learn, okay?"

"Okay." Emiko didn't make eye contact, but then, she hardly ever did.

And with that Anezaki picked the lesson back up to the best of her ability. The unruly boys finally settled down and Mizumachi continued his note-taking. Eventually Anezaki dismissed the class for recess and all of the children went running outside. Emiko was actually the first one outside, running around yelling just like any child should when they were let out to play. Mizumachi smiled and walked over to sit next to Anezaki while she supervised the play from a far.

"Everything I do at this point is just the official nonsense." Mizumachi commented when Anezaki gave him a curious look.

"So you've completely figured it out?" Anezaki wanted to confirm.

"Well we should give her one small test to hone in her exact place on the spectrum, but that's about it." Mizumachi explained. "She's got Asperger's Syndrome."

"Ah." Anezaki nodded.

Emiko on the other hand was looking through the bucket of balls, as usual, trying to find a football. There was never one inside the bucket, but she always checked, just incase. After discovering, again, that there was not a football inside the bucket Emiko ran over to where Nozomi was and joined her in the sandbox.

"Saka-chan, what's a mom like?" Emiko asked suddenly while they were carefully building a sand castle.

"Moms are really kind." Nozomi answered after a good deal of thought. "They give you lots of hugs and kisses and they always have time for you."

"What do dads think of moms?" Emiko asked, getting really close to Nozomi and staring right at her face. Nozomi simply pressed Emiko away a little bit and the other girl backed off slightly.

"My Dad says he loves my Mom as much as he loves me." Nozomi answered not sounding too confident.

"Does a mom make a dad happy?" Emiko asked.

"Yes." Nozomi nodded then paused again. "Why did you ask?"

"I don't have a mom." Emiko explained. "Papa's really sad when I'm with him, so I was wondering if I had to find a mom so that he would be happy and laughing more."

"Oh I see!" Nozomi understood with some vigorous nods.

"Whoever that girl is that's playing with Emiko-chan is an excellent friend." Mizumachi commented. "She's subtly correcting Emiko's social mishaps."

"Should I be trying to do the same?" Anezaki asked.

"You should get some training before you start in earnest, but that can't happen until after the diagnosis." Mizumachi explained.

"I wonder who would make a good mom…." Emiko muttered as she looked around.

"Anezaki-sensei would make a good mom." Nozomi remarked as she looked at their teacher. "She kind of acts like a mom and a teacher to us already."

"And Papa already knows Anezaki-sensei from school! They used to be good friends!" Emiko exclaimed, flapping her hands a little in excitement. "She'd be perfect!"

"Hiru-chan?" Nozomi wasn't sure where this was headed.

"Ke ke ke!" Emiko didn't laugh, she cackled.

Anezaki and Mizumachi shivered and shared a slightly mortified look. A purple aura with little black bats was radiating from Emiko.

"Definitely Hiruma's daughter…." Mizumachi muttered, shivering again.

"Saka-chan, we'll make Anezaki-sensei my mom!" Emiko announced. Nozomi simply sweatdropped and nodded because she was already used to Emiko's strange ideas.

"…I'm not sure I want to go over there." Anezaki muttered.

"I'm not." Mizumachi announced, very glad he did _not_ have to investigate whatever evil plot the daughter of the infamous Hiruma Youichi just cooked up. Thankfully Nozomi made a comment and the evil aura disappeared and was replaced by a confused expression.

"Er, is there anything else you have to do here today?" Anezaki decided to change the subject to avoid going over to investigate herself.

"Just a recess observation." Mizumachi assured her. "I'll be back for another one tomorrow, then I'm done here."

"Ah I see." Anezaki nodded. Emiko and Nozomi ran over.

"Anezaki-sensei, did you ever want to kiss my Papa while you were in high school?" Emiko asked, looking very serious.

"Oh?" Mizumachi appeared amused by the notion.

Anezaki blushed and denied everything.

**-the next day, recess-**

Mizumachi had just shown up for recess only, not bothering to do another in-class observation. Today had been particularly interesting because Oguri Kimi, the most popular girl in Anezaki's class, had been depressed and crying all day. Anezaki hadn't been able to console the girl, nor had she been able to get an explanation from either the girl or her father. Currently the other girls in the class (except Emiko and Nozomi) were trying to console their friend.

"You don't understand!" Kimi yelled, tears pouring down her thin face. Her black hair was a frazzled mess and her nice, expensive clothes were unkept. Kimi quickly ran across the playground and found herself crying in a small corner of the sandbox Emiko and Nozomi were currently playing in. Emiko simply glanced at Kimi for a minute then proceeded to ignore her presence. Nozomi fidgeted, unable to forget the crying girl in the sandbox.

"Hiru-chan, you should say something to Oguri-san." Nozomi whispered to her friend. Emiko turned around and looked at Kimi for a moment.

"What happened?" Emiko's voice was monotone.

"Happened? Happened!?" Kimi yelled back. "You wouldn't understand, freak!"

"…That's because you don't tell me." Emiko pointed out calmly, looking at Kimi's feet. "I can't understand what I don't know."

Kimi growled and lashed out at Emiko, thankfully the other girl was well out of reach.

"Now you're just being stupid." Emiko told her flatly then proceeded to ignore Kimi as if their conversation hadn't happened.

"You-!" Kimi roared. "You don't get it! You're too freaky to understand that I just lost my mom!!"

"Eep!" Nozomi squeaked as Kimi stomped over to Emiko, clearly about to start a fight.

"I don't have a mom." Emiko told Kimi plainly, making the angered girl stop dead. "I've never had one neither."

"…What?" Kimi sat down, rather deflated.

"I don't have a mom." Emiko said again, slowly and clearer.

"Your mom is dead?" Kimi asked, staring at Emiko in a new light.

"My mother is dead." Emiko answered. "She died when I was born."

"I'm sorry." Nozomi bowed her head quickly, feeling bad. "My mom's still alive, but my dad is dead."

"Your dad is dead?" Emiko looked shocked. How could someone live without a Papa?

Kimi didn't say anything but stared at the other two loners in the class. It was the first time Kimi ever considered how their lives were. Emiko turned around and looked at Kimi, up and down, then returned to the sand castle.

"Please hand me the shovel." Emiko pointed at the shovel next to Kimi. Kimi stared at the red shovel for a minute then picked it up and handed it to Emiko. Emiko took the shovel and continued to work on the sandcastle.

"How'd your mom die?" Nozomi asked, knowing that Emiko wasn't going to be too sympathetic.

"Car accident." Kimi answered.

"Childbirth." Emiko answered in her usual monotone fashion. Kimi gave Emiko a funny look.

"Don't mind Hiru-chan, that's just the way she is." Nozomi waved it off as she usually did.

"…She's strange." Kimi remarked, not really too comfortable with Emiko.

"So's ground coffee, but that doesn't stop my Papa from using it." Emiko shrugged.

"A-anyway! Hiru-chan's pretty smart, she remembers everything!" Nozomi explained.

"Oguri-san," the other girls finally managed to come over, "are you okay?"

"No." Kimi huffed.

"That's okay." Emiko assured Kimi without turning around. "It's okay to hurt and be unhappy sometimes."

"No it's not." One of the other girls protested. "Being happy is the best!"

"Papa said it's unhealthy to be happy all of the time." Emiko remarked. "Because you should feel all emotions, not just one."

"It's not like you understand her!" Another girl snapped.

"I do understand." Emiko frowned. "Not having a mom is hard and makes Papa sad."

"Well, you're just a freak!" The first girl made a move to hit Emiko when Mizumachi caught the other girl's arm.

"You shouldn't be fighting." Mizumachi told the girl seriously. "You're making Kimi-chan really upset."

Kimi was about to start crying again. Emiko looked over and noticed this.

"Handkerchief?" Emiko asked Nozomi. Nozomi blinked once and pulled out her handkerchief and gave it to Emiko. With the bit of cloth in hand, Emiko walked over and handed the handkerchief to Kimi.

"You should cry it out." Emiko told her, not quiet looking at her.

"Hiruma-san…!" Kimi muttered, taking the handkerchief. Emiko bent down and pulled Kimi into a hug.

"It's okay." Emiko said again, her tone still monotone. Kimi wept onto Emiko's shoulder while Emiko stood there, holding Kimi.

"I think the rest of you should run along now." Mizumachi suggested firmly. The other girls ran away to not get in trouble. Nozomi went around Mizumachi and hugged Kimi too.

"You two take care of her!" Mizumachi requested with a smile, then walked back over to Anezaki.

"T-thank you Mizumachi-san." Anezaki bowed her head, feeling a little bad since she hadn't done anything.

"It's okay." Mizumachi waved her off but then looked over at Emiko, Nozomi, and Kimi. "Though, I think it's safe to say Emiko-chan has managed to make another friend."

"Yeah." Anezaki nodded, smiling. She checked the time and called the children in from recess.

"Why does it hurt sometimes?" Kimi asked Emiko as they walked back towards the classroom.

"Life isn't fair," Emiko answered, recalling her father's words from a conversation they had had about his unhappiness. "The only thing you can do is to keep trying the best you can."

"My Mom says things always get better." Nozomi quipped in.

"Papa says that too." Emiko agreed with a nod.

"Do you believe them?" Kimi asked.

"Yes." Emiko nodded sharply. Nozomi nodded too.

"…I'll try to believe them too." Kimi vowed with a small sniffle as she walked back into the classroom.

_=_=_=_=_

Emiko's plotting and making new friends in strange ways, tell me what you think.


	20. 18: Defy You

Author's Note: Yay for busting my ass and writing up an update. I am pleased to see that I've been getting several new reviewers.

Song: Defy You is by The Offspring, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 18: Defy You

Kakei and Mizumachi worked well together. Kakei handled parents and administrative nonsense while Mizumachi worked with the children. Both jobs were equally difficult and their boss was always pleased with the results. Today, on the other hand, an issue had arisen that was completely destroying their perfect teamwork: Saburo Haruka.

With a theatrical clang, Kakei hung up the phone and smacked his head on his desk. Thankfully the years since high school had taught Mizumachi a bit of tact, so the other man choose to say nothing.

"…She denies everything still?" Mizumachi asked after a long silent moment.

"I can't get her to come to the meeting." Kakei lifted his head slowly from the table and began to rub his tired temples.

"You should ask Hiruma-san what we should do." Mizumachi suggested. "He would know."

"…I'm not sure I want to contact Hiruma about his mother-in-law." Kakei admitted. "I don't really think he'll react well to the news."

"You won't know unless you try." Mizumachi pointed out. "And we've tried everything else."

Kakei sighed and dialed Hiruma's number. The other man picked up after the second ring.

_"Fucking welfare."_ Hiruma stated, already giving Kakei a new fucking nickname. _"Why are you calling me?"_

"I can't get her to come to the meeting about Emiko this afternoon." Kakei sighed.

_"Drag her out of her fucking house."_ Hiruma suggested bluntly. _"She won't fucking go unless she's dragged kicking and screaming."_

"You're telling me I should abduct an old woman?" Kakei wanted to make sure. Mizumachi simply looked a little concerned about the notion.

_"Hell yes."_ Hiruma was smirking. _"Why don't you fucking pick me up too? I want to watch."_

"…I'm not going to pick you up." Kakei stated simply. "Thank you for the advice Hiruma-san."

_"Have a nice trip then!"_ Hiruma wished Kakei in a mocking, sing-song voice.

"…He's masochistic when it comes to his mother-in-law." Kakei observed as he hung up the phone.

"I'd say." Mizumachi was a little startled by the thought of kidnapping an old woman. "But I don't think he's entirely wrong either."

"That's the problem!" Kakei sighed. "Hiruma's right."

"He usually is." Mizumachi nodded.

Thunk!

Kakei hit his head on the desk again.

**-Later, outside of Saburo's house-**

"I can't believe I'm actually about to do this…." Kakei muttered as he and Mizumachi walked up to the gate. It was a nice house in a good neighborhood. There was a large tree in the backyard that could be seen growing taller than the house. Kakei rang the bell and waited.

A little while later Saburo opened the front door and Emiko's cries became audible.

"Park!" Emiko screamed, tears running down her face.

"Be quiet! We have guests!" Saburo snapped at the unruly child. Emiko simply cried some more, completely unhappy. Kakei and Mizumachi shared a concerned look and Mizumachi nodded. It was not hard for the tall lineman to jump over the gate and rush over to where Emiko and Saburo were standing. Emiko sobbed and managed to get past Saburo only to run behind Mizumachi.

"Who are you!?" Saburo yelled at Mizumachi's face.

"Mizumachi Kengo, an Autism Spectrum Disorder Specialist for the Japanese Welfare Centers." Mizumachi answered simply. "I believe you are the current guardian of Hiruma Emiko, correct?"

"Emiko doesn't have this 'autism' thing, if that's what you are here to ask." Saburo told Mizumachi flatly. "Now if you would just move-"

"Ma'am my partner and I are on our way to the very meeting in which your granddaughter will or will not be properly diagnosed. As her guardian you are required, by law, to attend this meeting." Mizumachi told her flatly. "I have no intention of leaving without you."

"You can't possibly be suggesting that I leave Emiko here alone?" Saburo countered simply.

"She can come with, this meeting is about her after all." Mizumachi told Saburo simply, completely dismissing the notion that the old woman might have had an upper hand.

"Mizumachi, we don't have time!" Kakei yelled from the gate.

"…Ma'am we can do this one of two ways," Mizumachi leaned down, using every inch of his height to be intimidating, "you can walk down that path willingly or I can carry you down it."

"Are you threatening me!?" Saburo gasped. "I'm going to call the police-"

Mizumachi simply picked Saburo up and set her light, delicate frame onto his shoulder without even a grunt. Mizumachi looked down at the crying Emiko.

"Don't cry, your Papa's going to be at the meeting too." Mizumachi assured Emiko, silencing the girl's sobs.

"What!?" Saburo cried. Mizumachi and Emiko simply walked down the path and got into the car. Saburo fought against it, but Kakei and Mizumachi combined was more than enough to get the old woman into the car and buckled in. Kakei sat down in the back with Saburo while Emiko rode in the front seat with Mizumachi behind the wheel. Of course Saburo was screaming and yelling bloody murder the entire trip (which is why Kakei chose not to drive). They arrived at the Welfare Center without much trouble and hauled Saburo out of the car and into their office, only earning startled looks from the secretaries as they passed.

In their office was their supervisor, a man called Yoshizawa Taiki, and Hiruma Youichi. Hiruma simply turned and quirked an eyebrow at Saburo as she yelled, screamed, and pounded frantically on Kakei's back. Mizumachi came in behind with Emiko in his arms. Her face lit up at the sight of her Papa and she expressed wanting down. Mizumachi humored her and watched as the little girl blotted across the room into her Papa's arms.

"Papa! Granny said mean, mean things!" Emiko told her Papa in her usual, but abnormally, fast monotone voice.

"She still is." Hiruma commented as he hugged his upset daughter.

"Let me down you cretin!" Saburo yelled loudly. Kakei considered dropping her, if it had only been Hiruma in the room he would have. He set her down into one of the free chairs and left his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Ma'am, if you had come willingly you would have had not to suffer this humiliation." Kakei reminded Saburo as she struggled against his grip.

"Am I interrupting something?" Anezaki asked as she shyly stepped into the room. With a reassuring grin, Mizumachi shook his head and beckoned Anezaki inside. Giving Saburo a pitying look, Anezaki sat down in an open seat not next to anyone.

"Ma'am, could you please calm down?" Yoshizawa asked her simply, silencing Saburo's struggles. "I'm sorry my subordinates were so… ill-morally persistent. But it was right of them to bring you here."

"Hmph!" Saburo frowned, making her disapproval clear. Emiko noticed that Saburo had calmed down then proceeded to look around the room, with her curious, wandering eyes.

"You've been crying…!" Hiruma observed, clearly upset by the notion. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, trying to clean Emiko's face up a little. Emiko wasn't terribly pleased with the cleaning and smacked Hiruma on the head, trying to get him to stop. Hiruma only huffed slightly and continued cleaning but stopping not too long after the bonk on his head.

Saburo simply glowered at the scene, still very unhappy. Anezaki frowned, having been approving of Hiruma's actions for the most part. In her opinion he should have probably admonished Emiko a little for hitting him, but there was nothing wrong with cleaning her face.

Emiko looked at Anezaki with a frown.

"Anezaki-sensei should sit next to Papa." Emiko remarked, still frowning. Hiruma blinked, not having been expecting that.

"Emiko, Anezaki-san doesn't have to sit next to me if she doesn't want to." Hiruma told Emiko in a firm, but calm voice.

"But Anezaki-sensei likes Papa!" Emiko protested clearly confused by her father's words.

"W-what?" Hiruma had a slight blush on the tips of his ears and nose, clearly embarrassed by the notion of Anezaki liking him. Anezaki was beat red herself.

"E-emiko-chan!" Anezaki protested. "You shouldn't say things like that!"

"It's true, isn't it?" Emiko observed.

"Is it?" Mizumachi jumped in, looking between the two, curious.

"No!" Both blushing adults denied it.

_'The more they deny it, the more true it looks.'_ Kakei observed and held back a chuckle.

"Are you putting strange ideas into my granddaughter's head, Anezaki-san?" Saburo asked acidly.

"N-no!" Anezaki assured Saburo. "There are some boys in my class that jump to the assumptions that I'm dating any man that comes by! I've been trying to-"

"Papa would you lie to me?" Emiko asked her Papa, looking at his chin.

"No." Hiruma assured his daughter.

"Do you like Anezaki-sensei?" Emiko asked, her eyes shooting off to take in one of the empty chairs.

"As a person, yes." Hiruma answered.

"Good." Emiko muttered then looked at Anezaki expectantly for a little bit. With a sigh Anezaki stood up and changed her seat so that she was next to Hiruma. The two then sat there awkwardly, purposely avoiding making any contact, eye or physical, with the other person.

"Hello." Takekura remarked as he stepped into the room. He took a glance at his awkward-looking friends, shrugged, then sat down in the open seat on Hiruma's other side.

"Papa, Uncle Musashi has funny hair." Emiko pointed at Takekura's head. "It's all wrong."

"He grew out of his old hair cut after high school, Emiko." Hiruma explained simply.

"But it's funny!" Emiko protested.

"I grew it out because your Papa wasn't around." Takekura told her simply. "But now that he's back I might fix it."

"Are you going to play again!?" Emiko gasped, obviously thrilled with the idea of Hiruma playing football again.

"We'll see." Hiruma left it at that.

During that conversation another man with pointy ears walked into the room. Takekura and Saburo immediately recognized him as Hiruma Yuuya, the father of Hiruma Youichi. He sat down in a seat far from the others and said nothing. Hiruma pretended his father wasn't there.

The door opened a final time an older man with a kind, wrinkled face and a shaggy head of peppery grey hair came into the room. He was wearing a typical doctor's lab coat with brown slacks and a blue dress shirt. Emiko recognized the man immediately.

"Doctor Masaki-san!" Emiko smiled and waved at the man.

"Hello Emiko-chan." Masaki Atsushi, the Saburo family doctor, greeted Emiko. "You seem to be well."

"Papa's going to take me home today!" Emiko announced with a smile. Hiruma jerked slightly, knowing full well that that would not be the case, even if he wished it were not so.

"Really?" Masaki opened his eyes to reveal cold, black-looking orbs. The rest of his face appeared to be curious, even if his eyes didn't.

"Why do you put these ideas into her head?" Saburo had stood up and looked rather exasperated. "You lost custody of her, she's mine to take care of now."

"I am well aware of that," Hiruma admitted, "as I am equally aware that I have not had contact with her recently, so any ideas that came into her mind are either your doing or her own."

Saburo decided to not continue the argument and instead changed the subject again.

"I don't want her sitting in your lap." Saburo told Hiruma flatly. "I don't want her near you." Emiko simply started crying again. Immediately Hiruma wrapped a protective arm around his daughter and began to quietly shush and calm her.

"Are you denying what the court said?" Saburo's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to have to issue a restraining order if this continues!"

Quietly Hiruma Yuuya stood up and got between his son and Saburo. He turned to his son, ignoring Saburo.

"Why don't I take her?" Hiruma Yuuya offered. With a frown, Hiruma handed Emiko over to her grandfather. The little girl squeaked, a little startled and stared up at the unfamiliar man. Hiruma Yuuya smiled at her and retreated back to his lonely seat away from the others.

"You look like Papa." Emiko whispered.

"That's because I'm your Papa's Papa." Hiruma Yuuya told her quietly. "Now let's just watch quietly and see what happens."

"O-okay." Emiko sniffed, still a little upset.

"Saburo-san, could you please return to your seat?" Yoshizawa asked the woman in a calm voice. "And Masaki-dono, could you please find a seat so that we can begin?"

"Certainly." Masaki sat down next to Anezaki, leaving a seat between himself and Hiruma Yuuya. Saburo returned to her seat on the other side of Takekura.

"Now, we've been called here today on behalf of Hiruma Youichi concerning his daughter, Hiruma Emiko." Yoshizawa began without any delay. "Hiruma-san believed his daughter to have a mental disability and wanted testing done to put that concern at ease. Kakei Shun and Mizumachi Kengo examined Hiruma-chan recently and are now going to present their results."

"When Emiko-chan was first brought in, I had her tell me some stories from a few picture cards I had on hand. Emiko-chan's comprehending abilities were fine, but her ability to convey her own thoughts was a bit strange and off. After a phone call with Anezaki-sensei, I confirmed that Emiko's issues were mostly social in nature. This led me to believe she might have Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, so Kakei and I ran an ASD diagnosis test."

"As par the requirements, I interviewed all of the adults who interact with Emiko on a regular basis with the exception of Saburo-san." Kakei went on. "I also took the time to examine Emiko's room at Hiruma-san's home which provided me with even more facts and data."

"Also according to the requirements, I observed Emiko-chan at school on two separate days." Mizumachi added. "Afterwards me and Kakei compared notes and made our decision."

"Ladies and gentlemen, as of this moment, Hiruma Emiko is herby diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of Autism Spectrum Disorder." Kakei announced to the group of adults. "This here is the official diagnosis." In Kakei's hand was a simple piece of paper.

Both Hirumas, Takekura, and Anezaki all nodded slightly. Masaki simply took the information in and said nothing. Saburo turned red.

"What in the world are you trying to pull here!?" Saburo demanded. "Emiko doesn't have any of this 'autism'!"

"On the contrary ma'am," Kakei told Saburo firmly, "I am a professional that specializes in diagnosing disabilities like Emiko-chan's. The exams and observations we made are proof that Emiko-chan does have Asperger's Syndrome."

"Is that all?" Masaki asked. "I have patients to get back to."

"We'll contact you later about what it means." Yoshizawa assured Masaki. "You may go."

"Thank you." Masaki bowed and left the room without another word.

"Anezaki-sensei, could you please come with me?" Mizumachi asked Anezaki. "We need to discus some altered education plans."

"Okay." Anezaki stood up.

"Oh, and Hiruma-san," Mizumachi caught Hiruma's eye, "could you come as well?"

"…Okay." Hiruma glanced at his daughter and father. His father only smiled and nodded.

"Papa?" Emiko asked.

"I'll see you again soon." Hiruma assured her and left the room with the other two adults.

The room fell into an awkward silence as Takekura sat between Saburo and Emiko. He coughed politely and took his leave of the room, muttering something about work as he went. Kakei and Yoshizawa watched the man go in silence. When the door shut again, Yoshizawa began speaking again.

"Saburo-san, I know hearing that Emiko-chan has a disability can be a shock, but you mustn't deny it." Yoshizawa explained. "You could really damage Hiruma-chan if you continue to behave that way."

"…You're the one that's completely wrong," Saburo protested, "that girl's father did this to her."

"That's-!" Kakei protested, angry. Yoshizawa's hand rose up and stopped Kakei from doing something rash.

"…Saburo-san, is it alight if I take Emiko-chan to lunch with me?" Hiruma Yuuya asked her. "I haven't had any contact with her since the custody case and I would like to spend some time with her."

"Do you believe these people?" Saburo asked, her eyes holding a fierce gaze.

"I believe I would like to do some research myself before I commit to an opinion." Hiruma answered simply. "Surely you're of the same opinion?"

"Have her back by three." Saburo told him firmly.

"Wouldn't dream of it any other way." Hiruma assured her.

"Is it alright for me to leave?" Hiruma asked.

"…I suppose." Kakei answered.

"We'll contact you later." Yoshizawa promised Hiruma Yuuya. The man simply nodded and carried Emiko out of the room. It wasn't until they got to the lobby that they finally couldn't hear Saburo's screaming.

"You're Papa's Papa." Emiko stated, her face looking like she was concentrating hard on something.

"Your Papa and I don't get along sometimes, he didn't want you to see us fight." Hiruma explained. "So he didn't take you to see me."

"So that makes you my Grandpapa then." Emiko nodded.

"Yes, I'm your Grandpapa Yuuya." Hiruma answered, nodding. "What kind of lunch do you want?"

"I want udon with fried pork!" Emiko exclaimed with a happy grin.

"…Really?" Hiruma blinked, last he checked his son _hated_ udon so much that it made him nauseous.

"It's my favorite!" Emiko continued with her fast, monotone explaining mannerisms. "Papa doesn't like it very much, so he doesn't cook it very much, but I really, really like it!"

"Ah, I see!" Hiruma chuckled. "How's about we go to a ramen house and have some udon there?"

"Yay!" Emiko flapped her hands. Hiruma smiled at her. He understood why his son went about such troubles for this child's sake, her smile melted anyone's heart.

**-Back at the Welfare Center-**

Yoshizawa and Kakei sent Saburo out into the lobby with a sigh. They were completely unable to convince her to even try to look for a disability herself. After exchanging tired looks the two went to join Mizumachi in the other room.

"-her to be self-sustaining when she's older." Hiruma finished his thought. He looked really thoughtful.

"Wow." Mizumachi commented. "You're not like any other parent I've had in here before. Most of the time I have sit down and coax them into thinking the situation isn't hopeless before I can tell them that their kid can be independent."

"Did you honestly think that Hiruma-kun was normal for one second?" Anezaki sounded like she was having a hard time thinking of Hiruma that way.

"No…." Mizumachi admitted. He finally made contact with Kakei and Yoshizawa and waved them into the room.

"I had a brief conversation with the court about your custody case," Yoshizawa admitted, "as a professional in the field of mental disabilities, I am particularly upset with the ruling."

"Hmm?" Hiruma looked back at the man.

"Emiko-chan's problems stem from her disability, not from parenting and it ignorant and foolish to think so. The fact that her current guardian refuses to recognize that Emiko-chan has a disability of any sort is dangerous to the child's mental health and growth." Yoshizawa went on. "Hiruma-san, I would like permission to reopen the custody case." He bowed.

"Please do." Hiruma answered quickly. "Emiko is my world in more ways than one and I just want her back."

"I understand." Yoshizawa smiled and held out the diagnosis papers. "Here."

"…Isn't that supposed to be given to the guardian-" Kakei stopped himself when he realized that giving those papers to Saburo was going to be pointless.

Hiruma simply took the papers and nodded. He briefly glanced through them, curious as to what they said.

"Now I have a meeting to attend to, you can carry on with your conversation." Yoshizawa took his leave of the room.

"I don't mean to disrupt," Kakei began, "but we need to figure out how to get Saburo-san home."

"She didn't drive here?" Anezaki asked, a bit confused.

"No." Mizumachi answered. "We drove her here."

"You actually did that?" Hiruma's face was gleeful and looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

"Yes, we did." Kakei smirked, making everyone in the room shudder. "Which is why I'm leaving you with the task of taking your mother-in-law home."

Hiruma was _not_ pleased.

_=_=_=_=_

Kakei, you are secretly a very evil person. Tell me what you think.


	21. 19: Father of Mine

Author's Note: Here's the update, all nice and done. The Hiruma in this chapter is Hiruma Yuuya, in case any of you are wondering. Be warned, there are several flashbacks.

Song: Father of Mine is by Everclear, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 19: Father of Mine

Hiruma walked down the busy street with his granddaughter in his arms. It had been six years since he last held her, and several, several more since he last held a child of her age. Emiko looked around, her eyes trying to take in everything. Hiruma didn't mind, his son had tried to look at everything all at once as a child as well.

"Udon!" Emiko cried, pointing at a display picture in the front of a noodle house. Hiruma turned and examined the establishment, recognizing it immediately in horror. It was the very noodle house his wife had died in. Without any warning his mind couldn't help but to recall the last hours of his late wife's life.

_"Yuuya!" Hiruma Ayama roared, pointing a long accusatory finger at her husband. She was a gaunt-looking woman with extremely sharp features and raven black hair. Notably she also had narrow green eyes and looked right now like a serial killer. Her teeth were particularly sharp and fang-like and with the words she spoke, they looked even more menacing than usual. "How dare you show your face here!"_

_Hiruma Youichi, the son of the Hiruma family, had been sitting peacefully at the kitchen table doing his homework. Youichi was a gaunt-looking child with almost no body fat and sharp features like his mother. He had bushy black hair and curious green eyes. Currently he had a blank expression and looked from his mother to his father, concerned._

_Hiruma Yuuya, the father and husband of the Hiruma family, had just returned home from an extended stay in America. He had left promising to become an international chess champion and found himself failing. He returned home with a tail between his legs and nothing but stories of defeat and shame. Needless to say his wife, who had been opposed to the trip in the first place, was not pleased with the circumstances behind his return. He had just entered the kitchen, having followed the voices into that room, only to be yelled at upon arrival. The poor man hadn't even had the opportunity to set down his suitcase._

_"I just spent over 15 hours on a plane and this is how I get greeted for coming home?" Yuuya spat, having not had a pleasant flight; let alone a pleasant experience in America. "You're the one that kept on telling me I should come home!"_

_"I _told_ you not to go, you ass!" Ayama almost screamed, storming up right into her husband's face. "I told you and told you! You never listened to me! And you still haven't started!" The woman's face was starting to turn red and angry. _

_Youichi frowned._

_"I fucking listen to every word you say!" Yuuya snapped back, offended she had thought otherwise. "You told me to fucking come home, so I fucking did!"_

_"What about the other times!?" Ayama demanded, referring to events that their son had no knowledge of having seen. "What about going in the first place!?"_

_"Just because I fucking listen to you does not mean I will obey your every god damn whim!" Yuuya growled at his wife. "I don't have to take anyone's advice about anything! Be glad, you ignorant woman, that I even listen to you in the first place!"_

_Ayama slapped him across the cheek, hard. Youichi flinched and his expression turned into a forced blank mask. _

_"How dare you speak to me like that! I had to raise money to feed myself and our son! I had to work and put clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads! You didn't even bother to send us money to help you bastard!" Ayama slapped her husband again. "You don't know anything! You don't understand what I've had to suffer because you don't listen!"_

_"Why you-!" Yuuya made a grab at Ayama who dodged to the side. Youichi gasped loudly, frightened by the thought of his parents physically beating on each other. This was their first major fight and the first discourse they had ever had in front of their son. Both parents froze at the sound of their son's voice. _

_"Y-youichi…." Yuuya muttered looking over at his mortified son. Ayama turned around and looked at the frightened boy and said nothing._

_"I-"Ayama began, searching desperately for some words to make the situation better, "-I'm not being rational right now." She admitted after a long moment._

_"…Neither am I." Yuuya consented. _

_"I'm still upset," Ayama glared at Yuuya, "but I need to calm my head first. I'm going to leave and meet up with Emiko at that ramen house down the block."_

_"I think that would be best." Yuuya nodded, agreeing._

_"Don't." Ayama poked her husband's chest for emphasis. "You. Dare. Follow. Me!"_

_"Wouldn't dream of it." Yuuya assured her. Ayama said no more and grabbed her purse, some money and marched out the door._

_Youichi stared at his father, shaking a little. He had never seen his parents fight. He had never seen Mom so upset. He wasn't sure what to think of his father at this time._

_"…You should go with your mother." Yuuya told Youichi after an awkward moment. Right now all the man wanted to do was to wash up and unpack some of his things. Youichi nodded, got away from the table, and left the apartment without another word. _

_The ramen house was just down the street, not very far at all. Every Tuesday evening Youichi and Ayama would eat there. This tradition started after Yuuya left. Since it was a Tuesdays night, Youichi had been expecting and looking forward to eating his favorite udon there. Upon arrival he saw his mother sitting at a table by the window having a heated discussion with her friend. Youichi wondered if he should go inside, so he waited outside for a while and watched the waitress come by and deliver the udon. When Youichi finally got the nerve to go inside to at least speak to his mother a screech stopped him. Looking behind, Youichi saw a car barreling down the road with a panicked man behind the wheel. Two police cars were chasing him in hot pursuit. _

_Youichi wasn't too sure what happened exactly but the car suddenly swerved right into the ramen house, smashing through the window and his mother and her friend. After the car was done crashing, Youichi rushed inside the store, screaming for his mother, only to find her mangled body and udon all over the interior of the store in a gory mess. Falling to his knees, Youichi found himself vomiting at the sight._

_Yuuya had just arrived at the scene not long after Youichi did. Initially he had come to the store to see if Youichi was indeed being fed, but now he was checking on his wife and son's fate. The sight of his wife's body and his son vomiting destroyed what was left of the man's pride._

_Later, after the trip to the hospital and the police station, Yuuya sat down with his son at the kitchen table. Yuuya wasn't sure what to say to the boy._

_"I hate you." Youichi told Yuuya suddenly. "If you hadn't come home, Mom would still be alive, you sorry fucker!" _

_Yuuya didn't stop his son when the boy ran upstairs into his room. _

"Grandpapa! Udon!" Emiko pointed at the ramen house again, jerking Yuuya out of his unpleasant memories and back into reality.

"Not _there."_ Hiruma shook his head. He was sure that his son would kill him if he took his granddaughter into that establishment. "We'll go to another one."

"But it's just a ramen house!" Emiko protested, clearly confused.

"...It's not a good place." Hiruma left it at that and carried Emiko away from the establishment quickly.

"Grandpapa?" Emiko asked after a little bit.

"Yes?" Hiruma looked down at his granddaughter.

"Have we met before?" Emiko asked, curious.

"Actually yes, but you were really little." Hiruma faintly recalled the day he met Emiko.

_Yuuya had been reading the newspaper that evening, completely content to have a relaxing evening after a long day at work. His cell phone started buzzing loudly, making him quickly jump and dive for the phone before it buzzed itself off the counter he had left it on. Looking at the caller ID, Yuuya was amazed to see that his son was calling him. He answered immediately._

_"Hello?" Yuuya answered._

"Get down to Houtai Hospital now."_ Youichi told his father and hung up without anymore words. Yuuya stared at the phone, a bit puzzled, then grabbed his car keys and left his apartment. It didn't take him too long to get to the mentioned hospital. He parked as close as he could to the main entrance and hurried his way across the rainy parking lot into the building. It looked just like any other hospital on the interior, for which he was thankful. Just inside the doors was his son Youichi who looked like he had had a very long day. Notably there was a bundle of pink blankets in Youichi's arms and Chizue was nowhere to be seen._

_"Youichi?" Yuuya asked, approaching his tired-looking son cautiously._

_From whatever zone Youichi had sent himself into, he snapped back into reality, taking his eyes from the bundle to his father's face. During this motion, Youichi's expression went from one of exhausted amazement to complete shock and fear._

_"Help…." Youichi pleaded in a small voice. Yuuya almost gasped, stunned that his son would ever sound frightened. He walked over and saw what was in that bundle: a baby._

_"Where's Chizue?" Yuuya couldn't help but to ask as he stared down at his grandchild._

_"…Dead." Youichi answered after a long moment. _

_With that bit of information everything fell into place. His son was now a father with no one to turn to. The poor man was scared for his child's life and obviously wanted to take care of it. _

_"Lets get an umbrella." Yuuya threw an arm over his son's shoulder. "And get you some rest."_

_"But Emiko-!" Youichi protested._

_"I can handle taking care of Emiko, you're going to be no use to her if you collapse with her in your arms." Yuuya pointed out wisely. "Besides we have to get some diapers and formula for her too, unless you already have some…."_

_"No." Youichi shook his head._

_The week that followed that night Yuuya had spent with his son, teaching him how to take care of a baby. After the first week, Yuuya left his son again, getting the occasional call when Youichi encountered something he didn't know how to deal with. After Emiko's first birthday, the calls stopped and Yuuya correctly assumed that his son had managed to get the situation under control._

"You act funny." Emiko commented in her usual monotone. "You keep stopping."

"Oh, I'm just remembering things." Hiruma chuckled almost humorlessly. "You do that when you get older."

"Really?"

"Really." Hiruma assured her. "Now how about this ramen house?"

"Yay!" Emiko smiled and flapped her hands, really excited and content.

_=_=_=_=_

Now we know the truth behind Yuuya and Hiruma's interesting relationship. Tell me what you think!


	22. 20: Can't Repeat

Author's Note: I apologize for the late update, I'm in week 10 out of 11 for my final term of the school year, please bare with me while I go in for a strong finish.

Song: Can't Repeat is by The Offspring, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 20: Can't Repeat

Maruko Reiji was a lawyer, but not an ordinary one. Instead of specializing, he got licenses to practice almost all the forms of law. This made him extremely appealing because he handled everything his clients needed. But there was something else even more extraordinary about this man, something that only one other person knew.

Maruko Reiji had, all these years, always known where Hiruma Youichi had been hiding. Unlike any of Hiruma's close friends, Maruko had actually met Saburo Chizue and seen her pregnant and seen her child in its father's arms. In fact, Maruko had even processed the marriage contract.

It was a promise and a vow of silence to Hiruma that kept Maruko from revealing this information to anyone. He wasn't ever really asked any questions about Hiruma's disappearance, so he really didn't care that he was withholding information from others.

What Maruko did care about was the custody case he had just lost. The more he reviewed it, the sicker he felt about it. Maruko had met Saburo Haruka a few times, none of the encounters were pleasant to say the least. She was an opinionated, crazy old woman who had too much money and time at her disposal. Hiruma, despite his past and mysterious ways, was actually a good guy at heart and worked hard to raise his daughter properly. Having known Emiko personally, Maruko knew that her behaviors, despite all their oddness, could not be completely explained by Hiruma's so called inability to raise a child.

Shaking his head Maruko took a look around his office. It was an inoffensive cream color with a few nice, but not special, looking paintings of bridges on the walls. Behind his large oak desk were all of his degrees and licenses up in nice, clean frames. On the desk itself was a computer, some papers, a telephone, and a few picture frames that faced Maruko. One was a picture of his recent wedding and another was a picture of his high school football team. With a small smile, Maruko gazed at both pictures, happy to be living the life he was living.

That's about the time his office door was broken down and a very, very angry looking man stomped into the room. He was fairly tall with a good tan, short brown hair, and wrap-around sunglasses. He was currently wearing a rather nice, sharp looking business suit.

"Agon-sama, why don't you sit down?" Maruko calmly invited the obliviously irritated man to sit down in the leather chair across from his desk. With a theatrical huff, Kongo Agon flung himself into the chair.

"Okay you shit trash, where's Enri?" Kongo demanded, glaring through the sunglasses. Maruko wasn't perturbed at all by this behavior, Kongo had been his client for many years. Maruko simply adjusted his nice tie and looked Kongo in the eye with his blue, blue eyes.

"I don't know where your subordinates are." Maruko reminded Kongo. "And Enri hasn't been by here so I can't tell you where he's been."

"That fucking trash!" Kongo growled and stood up.

"I'm sending the repair bill to you." Maruko remarked as Kongo stormed out the doorway. Maruko sighed and wiped his hands on his nice pinstripe suit. Dealing with Kongo and his yakuza family was more than a little bit of a handful at times. His wife, Maruko Maruko, stuck her head into the doorway. Her black hair had gotten a bit longer since high school, now at her shoulders. She simply nodded, knowing that her husband was okay and went back to her desk as the secretary. Now that the door was on the floor, Maruko could hear his wife call the door repairman and joke about rowdy clients with him.

To give himself something to do, Maruko began to go over Hiruma's file. As it turned out, Hiruma rarely needed a lawyer for anything and when he did it was usually for small, simple things. The first thing at the top of any of Maruko's files was the person's will. Hiruma had a remarkably complicated will, mainly because he had inherited the rights to the Saburo family's fortune and his own family's fortune. Anything that was associated with the Saburo family was of course to be given to Emiko. If something were to happen to her before Hiruma's demise, everything would be given to charity, or in the case of the company, the employees. Most of the things from the Hiruma family were to be given to Emiko, or to friends, like Kurita and Takekura. There were several clauses concerning how Hiruma died and how that would affect where things went. Notably, his notebooks where to be burned by whoever carried out the will, something Maruko thought was definitely for the better.

The papers that immediately followed the will where Saburo Chizue's old files, namely her will and their marriage certificate. Looking at the files reminded him of the first time he had met Saburo.

_Maruko had gotten a call from Hiruma saying that he was bringing his wife in. The day before that he had gotten a call from Saburo's old lawyers to arrange the transfer of her affairs and other legal documents. All of them were being delivered by her to him._

_Maruko faintly wondered who this Saburo Chizue was, she did marry Hiruma Youichi after all. But Maruko hadn't been invited to the wedding and he hadn't heard any gossip from his girlfriend about Hiruma getting married (his girlfriend, Hirumo Maruko, was good friends with Anezaki Mamori who was an old friend of Hiruma's). There was something strange about this mysterious Saburo Chizue._

_Eventually the door into his office opened and Hiruma marched inside with an air as if he owned the place. To Maruko this was a good sign because it meant that Hiruma hadn't changed his behavior. A woman came in behind him, carrying a small briefcase. The woman had a slouched posture that wasn't because of laziness but rather because of wanting to make a small presence. She had long black hair, big brown eyes, and a heart-shaped face. Her overall posture and presence reminded Maruko of that shrimpy kid, Kobayakawa Sena, that used to play for Hiruma's high school football team. But there was something… off about her as well. _

_"Hiruma-san," Maruko stood and bowed slightly, acknowledging Hiruma, "ah and you must be Saburo-san." Maruko then bowed to her, getting one in return. Saburo sat down in the extra chair Maruko had brought into his office while Hiruma simply stood behind her, as if he was there to keep her from running away. Saburo set her briefcase on her lap and opened it up. She began handing Hiruma files and once he had the rather sizeable stack he set them on Maruko's desk._

_"Aren't you going to say something fucking wife?" Hiruma asked Saburo dryly as he returned to his spot behind her._

_"H-hello." Saburo muttered with a quiet, timid voice._

_"Would you mind if I took a minute to look through your papers?" Maruko asked her kindly. She shook her head nervously. Maruko quickly speed-read through all the paper work, seeing that Saburo had had her heart replaced as a child and was of frail health because of the immune system suppressing medication she was on. Saburo had been the heir to her father's corporation, but that changed when she married Hiruma and now he was the heir._

_The most notable bit of paperwork was the marriage contract agreements. Both the Saburo and the Hiruma family had made promises and pledges if the marriage took place._

'So it was an arranged marriage….'_ Maruko observed. That explained just about everything he needed to know._

_"Saburo-san, are you sure that these are all your legal affairs?" Maruko asked her._

_"Y-yes…." Saburo answered quietly, not meeting Maruko's eyes._

_"I understand that you just recently married, is there anything you would like to change or have clarified?" Maruko asked her._

_"No." Saburo shook her head._

_"Can I have permission to contact your previous lawyers and yourself if I have any questions about your affairs?" Maruko asked. _

_"Yes." _

_"Who should I contact first?" Maruko decided to add on a little more when Saburo gave him a confused look. "Yourself or your old lawyers."_

_"…Myself." Saburo managed to answer after a few moments. _

_"Thank you, is there anything else I can help you with?" Maruko answered._

_"…No." Saburo looked like she wanted to leave, desperately. Hiruma looked somewhat annoyed._

_"Since you are also here Hiruma-san, is there anything you need done?" Maruko asked Hiruma._

_"Just keep your fucking promise, fucking eyelashes." Hiruma ordered Maruko._

_"I have every intention of doing so," Maruko assured him, "well since we are done here, thank you for coming and do I need to show you out?"_

_"Fuck no." Hiruma answered, rolling his eyes at the question. He grabbed Saburo's arm and pulled her up and out of the chair. They went about two steps when Hiruma stopped and put his forehead to hers, a frown growing larger across his features._

_"…Tch." Hiruma clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Let's to the fucking hospital."_

_"S-sorry." Saburo muttered._

_That's when it dawned on Maruko, Saburo looked rather ill the entire time she had been in his office, in both body and mind._

Maruko shook his head, pulling himself out of his daydreaming. He turned on is computer and checked to see if there was anything he needed to have done. The answer was the same as it had been, there was nothing to do. Often Maruko would wish for a break in all the hustle and bustle he dealt with on a regular basis and when he got a slow day he would regret it because it was boring. He simply sighed and decided to amuse himself by turning on his internet radio.

Maruko's choice of radio station was this American 90s rock station he had stumbled upon on accident one Sunday morning. Finally some music started to come out his speakers. To Maruko's amusement it was a band he had become somewhat familiar with from all the hours he spent listening to the station, The Offspring. He hadn't heard this particular song of theirs, but he liked it and how the words fit in with him.

"Memories are bittersweet, the good times we just can't repeat." The singer, Dexter Holland, had an almost melancholy tone to his voice, as if this song was a bit more personal than he wanted it to be.

The phone rang, making Maruko pause the song and answer it.

"Hello?" Maruko asked into the receiver. One of his clients was calling for a bit of legal advice. With efficient, well practiced ease, Maruko answered all the questions and gave his expert opinion on the matters. After he finished the call, he hung up and thought about the Hiruma-Saburo family issues a bit more.

_After Hiruma had gotten medical advocacy and power of attorney for his in-laws as well as his wife, he had not needed any other assistance from Maruko on anything [1]. Saburo had her will altered to include her husband and needed nothing else. Several years passed and Saburo called on day wanting an appointment. Well, it hadn't really been a phone call, according to his secretary, it had been more like a violent demand._

_Which made Maruko faintly wonder if Hiruma had managed to rub off on his wife, and if he had, exactly how much?_

_Deciding to air on the side of cautious, Maruko dressed in his solid blue suit as opposed to his usual pinstripes so that he would be a little less intimidating. He put extra time before and after Saburo's appointment incase things got messy._

_When Saburo finally arrived in his office, Maruko gasped slightly, completely caught off guard. Saburo was extremely pregnant and also extremely ill-looking. All of the fat that had been on her body seemed to have disappeared, making her look almost anorexic and unpleasantly gaunt. The only thing that seemed to be healthy about her was that round, heavy-looking belly on her frail frame. Saburo waddled into the room and sat down with a small, relieved sigh._

_"Hello Saburo-san," Maruko greeted her with a nod, "congratulations."_

_"…Write my baby into the will." Saburo told him firmly, her eyes deadly serious._

_"How?" Maruko turned to his computer, pulled up the will and was at the ready to make the altercations._

_"Everything for it." Saburo answered. With quick, nimble movements, Maruko deleted several clauses and re-wrote the main article._

_"Who'd be the caretaker?" Maruko asked._

_"Youichi." Saburo answered. And with a little more typing Maruko was done._

_"Is this to your liking?" Maruko asked, turning the monitor and showing her the new will. Saburo read it quickly and nodded._

_"I'll have it proceeded by the end of today." Maruko told her as he righted his monitor. _

_"Don't tell Youichi." Saburo asked quickly, her meekness from before seeming to return. "Please don't tell Youichi."_

_"I won't tell him." Maruko assured her._

_Saburo burst into tears. Maruko looked around awkwardly for a moment before he figured out what to do._

_"Are you alright?" Maruko asked her._

_"…I'm going to die." Saburo sobbed. "You can't tell him!" She looked up at Maruko with these haunted eyes._

_"M-ma'am?" Maruko was a little startled by the outburst._

_"J-just don't tell him." Saburo told Maruko again, wiped her face with a handkerchief, and managed to get herself up and out of the room. Maruko simply stared after her, not really sure if he had been dreaming._

"Basket case…." Maruko muttered, shaking his head. He then recalled the house visit he had with Hiruma a few months later.

_It had been a rather desperate and cryptic-sounding phone call from Hiruma Youichi that took Maruko to the far side of town. This apartment was new, Hiruma had apparently just moved in a few days before and had his hands rather full with something, probably that baby Maruko had guessed._

_When Hiruma opened the door with a pink bundle in his arms, Maruko realized he had guessed right. Hiruma looked like any new father did, lacking in the sleep, somewhat frantic, and really, really intent on keeping that gurgling bundle in his arms from screaming._

_"A girl?" Maruko asked, hoping that was the reason Hiruma had a pink baby blanket. _

_"Just come in." Hiruma ordered Maruko tiredly as he turned around and walked himself and his baby into the living room. Maruko simply followed and observed that Hiruma had only managed to get a couch and several boxes at this point in the move. There was also a playpen set up in one corner of the living room. It was already full of soft-looking plush toys and pillows. _

_"Do you have her birth certificate?" Maruko asked. Hiruma pointed to the neat-looking pile of paperwork that had been set on the floor where a side table would eventually go next to the couch. Maruko picked it up and looked through it. Saburo's death certificate, little Hiruma Emiko's birth certificate, and a few other random legal bits concerning the death and birth. _

_"…So you would like to see your wife's will?" Maruko asked as he reached into his briefcase and pulled out the document. Hiruma looked a little torn over some sort of internal decision, then took the papers from Maruko and set them promptly on the couch._

_"Hold her." Hiruma ordered him with an expression that said 'if my kid is hurt I'm going to murder you'. Maruko took the baby from her father then watched the man pick up the papers again and leave the living room quickly. Maruko simply blinked and looked down at the young, young baby. Her head was a bit large and her ears were these small, pointed things. She looked up at him with her big, brown eyes and made a distressed noise. _

_Knowing that if Emiko started screaming, Hiruma would murder him regardless of whether or not he actually did anything, Maruko decided to try making a funny face. Emiko sounded a bit more distressed by this. Since that plan had backfired, Maruko began to rock her, hoping that would calm her down. Emiko seemed to like the rocking well enough and stopped making distressed noises. Her eyes were wandering around, as if she was trying to take in everything she saw all at once. Eventually her eyes settled on Maruko's shinny earrings. She made a happy noise and watched the earrings, completely content._

_"So you are good with kids." Hiruma commented from behind Maruko, making the latter turn his head to look at the former. Hiruma was standing in the doorway with the papers in one hand and two cups of coffee in the other. Emiko made another distressed sound and Maruko quickly turned his attention back to the baby. Emiko's face was all scrunched up and she looked to be in pain. Maruko pulled her up and opened his mouth to say something when Emiko vomited. All over Maruko and his nice suit._

_"…Yuck." Maruko commented, thankful he had not gotten any vomit in his mouth. Hiruma set the cups and papers on the floor, then took Emiko from Maruko. She made another noise then vomited again, this time hitting Hiruma in the face. He only looked more tired. Emiko then started gurgling contently again._

_"…Don't move." Hiruma told Maruko and disappeared with Emiko into the back rooms of the apartment. He returned momentarily with a towel on his head and three extra ones in his hand. They sat down and wiped off the vomit to the best of their abilities. Afterwards Hiruma offered Maruko use of the shower and a change of clothes. Maruko gladly accepted._

_When Maruko was done cleaning himself they sat down, talked over Saburo's will and talked about the needed altercations to Hiruma's will. Then Maruko left and went to the nearest dry-cleaners._

Realizing that his music wasn't playing anymore, Maruko turned the song back on.

"With all our joys and fears, wrapped in forgotten years. The past is laughing as today just slips away!" Holland sang, making Maruko nod in a grave agreement.

Again the phone rang and again Maruko paused the music and answered it.

_"Fucking eyelashes,"_ Hiruma greeted Maruko in his usual manner when Emiko wasn't underfoot, _"I've got news."_

"Fire away." Maruko took out a pen to take any notes that he needed to.

_"Emiko was just diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome,"_ Hiruma explained, _"and her case manager intends to re-open the custody case."_

"Asperger's Syndrome?" Maruko didn't recognize the term. "What's that?"

_"High-functioning autism."_ Hiruma answered; that rang a bell in Maruko's mind.

"…Seems about right." Maruko nodded.

_"I'll fax you the fucking paperwork, get my fucking case ready."_ Hiruma ordered simply.

"Sure thing, I'll be right on it." Maruko smiled. This was good news.

_"Don't force the fucking system,"_ Hiruma requested, _"just make it move as fast as it can normally."_

"I didn't intend to," Maruko assured Hiruma, "there's no reason to give Sabu-chan any extra ammunition."

_"Just call her fucking old hag."_ Hiruma almost pleaded. Maruko knew his nickname for Saburo Haruka disturbed Hiruma a little.

"That'll be an extra 500 yen." Maruko joked. Hiruma growled and hung up. With a small shake of his head, Maruko turned the music back on.

"Life goes on, come of age, can't hold on, turn the page." Holland's voice came over the speakers once more. "Time rolls on, wipe these eyes, yesterday laughs, tomorrow cries. Time rolls on."

And Maruko couldn't help but to feel like Holland was right, despite everything the world would continue to go forward, even if you get knocked around.

"Let's make tomorrow cry some tears of joy, ne Hiruma?" Maruko muttered and began to get to work.

_=_=_=_=_

End of the first story arch! Whoo!

[1] – Medical Advocacy is the legal term for someone who can make medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated in such a way that you cannot make them yourself (like being in a coma). Power of Attorney is the legal term for someone who can sign your name on your behalf if you are incapacitated, so they can write checks for you, pay your bills, and take legal action on your behalf. These are both important things to have if you are old and sickly.

Please tell me what you think!


	23. 21: Bad Day

Author's Note: Note that this is the beginning of the second arc in this story and as promised, there's some HiruMamo fluff!

Song: Bad Day is by Daniel Powter, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 21: Bad Day

Anezaki Mamori was having a horrible day. It started around two am when the neighbor's baby started screaming. Unable to sleep through the screaming, Anezaki hadn't had the opportunity to fall asleep until after six am, but by that point she had to get out of bed to be at work anyways.

A quick trip to the shower discovered that her hot water heater was acting up again and unable to give her warm water she'd been looking forward too all night. Then the toaster caught fire (leaving her with a need to replace it and more importantly without breakfast). She rushed out the front door in a hurry, only to discover that it was pouring rain and she didn't have an umbrella.

At the end of a particularly miserable walk to work, she came inside to discover her white t-shirt had become transparent and was now revealing her pink bra. It turned out none of her co-workers had anything (sweaters or shirts) to provide her with for help. She wound up spending the time she would have normally used to do lesson plans trying to wring out her t-shirt and set up her apron so that it covered the pink bra as best she could.

It turned out the wringing out of the t-shirt took up so much time, that Anezaki rushed into her classroom late only to find that Emiko had gotten into a fist fight with one of the boys about something. Anezaki wasn't sure whether or not she should be mortified that Emiko did successfully beat up the boy. It took several loud minutes too long to get the class to calm down only to realize that she hadn't organized her lesson plan with resulted in chaos until she managed to get that organized.

Around lunch Anezaki learned that she had an evaluation that morning (the observer had been watching from the back of the classroom and Anezaki hadn't noticed him. Well the evaluator, of course, gave her poor marks and tried to get her either demoted or fired. Thankfully Matsu, her boss, had been extremely understanding of the whole situation and kindly told the evaluator that he should leave.

After coming back from lunch, Anezaki found her classroom full of muddy students. Sending them home in a semblance of clean and helping the janitor with her classroom had just made her already long day, exhausting. Thankfully Anezaki didn't have to speak with Saburo.

Anezaki managed to get home with only two cars sloshing puddle water on her. Once inside she went into the bathroom to shower and clean up only to discover her period had started and ruined her nice panties. Her annoying hot water heater was still not working properly after she had tried to shower. With a sigh, Anezaki toweled up, dressed in dry clothes and went over all the papers she had from work.

Most of which were soaked beyond comprehension.

In the papers she found something she wasn't quiet sure what was right away. It was a folded up piece of white construction paper that she hadn't recalled being in the pile. Unfolding it showed her the words 'To: Papa, From: Emiko'.

"Oh dear." Anezaki muttered, not too sure what to think of it. She folded it back up and went to her car so that she could deliver the paper to Hiruma and pick up some dinner. After failing to start the car a few times reminded her that her spark plugs had been taken out because they needed replacing and she hadn't had time recently to get the new set.

Tiredly, Anezaki pulled out her phone and called Hiruma.

_"Fucking teacher?"_ Hiruma sounded tired, grumpy, and confused.

"I have something to give you," Anezaki explained, "from Emiko-chan."

_"So you're coming here then?"_ Hiruma asked, perking up a little.

"No, I can't." Anezaki shook her head even though Hiruma couldn't see it. "My car doesn't have spark plugs at the moment and I don't have change for a train."

_"So you want me to go over there then."_ Hiruma deadpanned.

"Yeah." Anezaki nodded, her exhaustion from her long, long day coming out clear in her voice. She felt had felt like crying since she had found out that her car didn't have spark plugs.

_"…Where do you live?"_ Hiruma asked using a soft, comforting tone she had never heard in his voice before. For a moment, Anezaki was reminded of her father who would pat her on the head and tell her it was okay to have a bad day. Quickly Anezaki regained her composure and told him where she lived.

_"Put on some tea."_ Hiruma advised her and hung up.

"…Tea?" Anezaki muttered to herself as she stared at the phone in her hand. She shook her head and went into the kitchen, starting up a pot of green tea. She took a little medicine for her cramps and cuddled up in a blanket on her couch, waiting for Hiruma to arrive.

Anezaki woke up with a start when she heard firm knocking on her door. A quick glance at the clock told her that she had been asleep for about an hour and a half. She thought about how long it took to drive to Hiruma's place from hers, it should have been only half an hour of time….

Opening the door revealed a slightly wet Hiruma with an umbrella, two bags in one hand, and a box under one arm. He was wearing a dark gray business suit and a somewhat sympathetic look. She let him inside, a bit curious about what he had brought with him.

"I'll take that." Anezaki offered to take his umbrella. Hiruma handed it to her wordlessly as he carefully set his other things down so that he could remove his shoes. Anezaki took the umbrella into her bathroom and set it up to dry there. She heard someone going through her cupboards in the kitchen. Anezaki frowned and rushed into the kitchen, a lecture on the tip of her tongue, when she saw Hiruma setting the table and taking food from the take-out boxes in the bags and serving some on the plates. In the box, it turned out, was a creampuff.

"Hiruma…!" Mamori gasped, completely caught off-guard by his actions.

"Had a bad day didn't you?" Hiruma asked her, as he poured them both some tea.

"How-!?" Anezaki began, but was cut off when she saw his face. Hiruma had turned around and had one of those apologetic smiles on his face, but this wasn't a normal apologetic smile, it was distinctly paternal.

"Does it matter?" Hiruma asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Come, let's eat."

It felt surreal to be sitting across her small kitchen table from Hiruma. Anezaki sat down and went through the food he had brought, it was fairly good and really warm. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she put a bit of it into her mouth. She ate quickly and happily. Hiruma didn't hurry his eating, but he didn't waste time or movement either. Neither said anything as they ate but it didn't matter because the resulting silence was comfortable.

"Why are you being so kind?" Anezaki asked suddenly. It was true that this behavior wasn't like him. Slowly he finished the bite of food that was in his mouth and then he stood up, his hands slipping into his pockets.

"…I suppose you've never met this side of me before." Hiruma observed as he looked at her with understanding eyes. "But I'm sure you've heard all about it every day."

Anezaki's eyes went wide only moments after Hiruma finished that statement. During all their years of friendship, Anezaki had always been a sort of maternal figure that provided maternal comforts to a group of somewhat lost boys. For the first time ever, Anezaki was receiving some sort of parental comfort and it was coming from Hiruma. Before her was not Hiruma the man, nor was it Hiruma the infamous Commander from Hell, it was Hiruma the father, Emiko's father.

Using his long, boney hand, Hiruma patted Anezaki's head and ruffled her hair a bit. This snapped her out of her musings and felt remarkably comforting.

"So is your day so bad now?" Hiruma asked her looking serious, but not intimidating. Anezaki simply let out a sob and threw her arms around his waist, letting the tears she had been trying to hold back flow out. Hiruma shut his eyes and nodded once, knowing that this was going to happen. He returned the hug and rubbed a few circles around her back. Anezaki didn't cry long, just a few moments cleared most of the agonies from her mind.

"S-sorry." Anezaki muttered, wiping away the last of her tears with her hand.

"…You sounded like you were about to cry on the phone." Hiruma told her. "…I was expecting it."

"Sorry." Anezaki managed again. This time she stood up and went to the sink to wash her face. Hiruma said nothing and began to clear the plates from dinner. By the time Anezaki had finished with her face Hiruma had already arrived at the sink with all of the dirty plates. She moved to the side and he set them in her sink.

"Don't you have something to give me?" Hiruma asked her.

"Oh, yes!" Anezaki flushed slightly and ran to get the paper. She handed it to him. Hiruma said nothing as he took the paper and unfolded it. His eyes went rather wide when he saw the picture his daughter had made. Emiko had drawn herself up in her Papa's arms, which Hiruma did not mind and had been somewhat expecting. It was the fact that Anezaki was in the picture on the other side of Emiko smiling.

"…Just like her mother." Hiruma muttered. Chizue had been many things, blunt and loaded with her meaning was one of them, something that Emiko also exhibited frequently when she tried to be 'subtle'.

"Huh?" Anezaki was clearly confused. Hiruma showed her the drawing and she blushed. "Is she trying to tell us what I think she is?"

"Probably," Hiruma pulled the paper away and folded it up, "subtly is not something she got from me."

"…It must be lonely, growing up without a mom." Anezaki commented as she thought about the picture in a new light. Hiruma chose not to comment, instead he looked at the picture again. He couldn't help but to think about what Emiko meant in the picture. His little girl didn't just want a Mom, but she wanted Anezaki to be her Mom.

And Hiruma knew that he was nowhere near ready to start looking for another wife. But the picture reminded him that running away never got him anywhere.

"You're not taking that seriously, are you?" Anezaki was somewhat amazed by that.

"Children are fucking people too, fucking teacher," Hiruma pointed out to her sternly, "just because Emiko isn't educated like an adult doesn't mean she isn't smart or incapable of giving solid advice."

Anezaki didn't say anything, recalling that she had issues treating children like people. All the years she mothered Kobayakawa needlessly were proof of that.

"Emiko never asks for things," Hiruma began, "she never really wants anything other than to see me smiling."

"…I did have a slight crush on you in high school, but…." Anezaki trailed off on the end of her confession. She couldn't find the right words to describe how she thought the current Hiruma was too much of a stranger.

"I'm not anywhere near fucking ready," Hiruma folded up the paper, "but I will be one day."

"Hiruma?"

"Will you be willing to wait until then?" Hiruma asked her, looking into her eyes with his amazing green ones. Anezaki's heart beat a little faster, Hiruma hadn't ever looked her in the eye like that before.

"Y-yeah." Anezaki muttered, still amazed at how very handsome Hiruma was.

Chizue had been an amazingly lucky woman to have been married to someone like him.

"Well, since I'm done here, I'll be leaving." Hiruma announced as he made his way to the door. Anezaki began to follow him out, to see him to the door as was proper for a host, only to realize his umbrella was still in the bathroom. She rushed and grabbed it, flying across her house to see if she could catch him before he got too far.

"Your umbrella-!" Anezaki cried as she rushed over with the offending object. Hiruma had been tying his shoes. He stood up and turned around to look at her.

"Thanks." Hiruma smiled slightly and took it from her.

"Hiruma-kun, we're friends still right?" Anezaki asked him as he set his hand on the doorknob of her home.

"Yeah." Hiruma nodded slowly, not too sure where she was going with this.

"Then let's have coffee sometime." Anezaki smiled.

"Sure." Hiruma smiled softly, opened the door and his umbrella then stepped out into the rain.

"Hey Anezaki," Hiruma remarked, not turning around, "have a good day."

And with the shutting of the door he was gone.

"…Damn," Anezaki muttered, "I think I just fell in love with you again…."

_=_=_=_=_

Ah yes, a wonderful role reversal. Instead of mother!Mamori, we get father!Hiruma. Please comment!


	24. 22: Children

Author's Note: Holy crap! This is an enormous update! I hope the lot of you love it. The song I selected is very lyrics-drive, I highly recommend looking them up.

Song: Children, or Children of the Sun is by Twarres, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 22: Children

Kakei Shun had been rather surprised when Maruko Reiji called him on behalf of his client Hiruma Youichi. Kakei had known both men from football, but had lost touch with Maruko after college. The fact that Maruko had become a lawyer hadn't surprised Kakei too much, but to think he'd been Hiruma's lawyer!

Carefully maneuvering his car through the traffic, Kakei took some time to think about where he was headed. He was headed to a meeting with Hiruma, Maruko, Anezaki Mamori, and Mizumachi Kengo. The group was meeting to construct Hiruma's new case for the recently re-opened custody battle for Hiruma Emiko. Their case was going to revolve around Emiko's recently diagnosed autism and the fact that Emiko had had a distinct negative change in behavior after moving in with her Grandmother.

Being an Autism Spectrum Disorder Specialist, Kakei had a duty to make sure that Maruko was informed on the subject so that he could argue it properly. Mizumachi, unlike Kakei, would be actually attending the trial as a witness to Emiko's diagnosis and also as her case manager. Anezaki would be attending as a witness because she was Emiko's teacher. Hiruma would be attending as Emiko's father and Maruko as his lawyer.

With his thoughts now in order, Kakei nodded and pulled into the parking area. They had chosen to have this conversation at the Mourenshuu Temple, which happened to be owned by the family of Kurita Ryokan. Parking near the temple wasn't available, so Kakei was forced to use a parking garage a hand full of blocks away. Having thought ahead, Kakei had planned ample time to walk the rest of the way to the temple.

Upon exiting the parking area, Kakei found himself walking in on the end of what must have been a very interesting conversation.

"-e actually listened to you?" Hiruma asked some man Kakei had never seen before. Hiruma was bending over slightly and holding onto something. Since it was later in the night and the two men were standing in a particularly poorly-lit area it was hard to see exactly who was talking and what was going on.

"That would be because her husband held me in high esteem." The man answered.

"Bad!" Emiko's voice rang out sharply in the parking garage. "Bad Grandpapa!"

"…What'd you do?" Hiruma asked the man after a small sigh.

"Lie!" Emiko explained. "Lie to Grandmother!"

"You lied to Saburo?" Hiruma deadpanned, then after a pause, laughed a little.

"I just convinced her that I was on her side." The man chuckled. "And she let me have Emiko-chan for the evening."

"Lying is bad!" Emiko protested. "Grandpapa bad!"

"Yes, Emiko, lying is bad." Hiruma told his anxious daughter. "Your Grandpapa had to do something bad so that something good would happen."

"Eh!?" Emiko sounded very confused by this.

"Sometimes, Emiko, it is okay to break the rules and do bad things." Hiruma continued to explain. "Remember how I used to lie to the other team when I played football so that they would be tricked?"

"Y-yeah." Emiko was still distressed.

"Well, your Grandpapa had to trick your Grandmother into thinking that he was on her side so that he could take you away from her for the night." Hiruma was using soft, comforting tones. "And I know you'd rather spend the night with me."

"I can go home!?" Emiko cried, sounding relieved.

"Only tonight," the man reminded Emiko, "it's all I could manage."

"Was Grandpapa bad?" Emiko asked.

"He broke the rules to do something good," Hiruma answered, "I'd say he did good."

"O-okay." Emiko seemed to have an uncomfortable acceptance of the new fact.

"I told Saburo that I'd bring her back around two in the afternoon." The man told Hiruma. "So could I have her back around noon?"

"Udon?" Emiko asked.

"Yup, I want to take you to go have udon again." The man assured the little girl.

"Did you move?" Hiruma asked.

"No." The man answered.

"I'll bring her by then." Hiruma nodded once to the man, then bent down a little more and picked up Emiko. "Come on, Emiko, you're going to go meet your Uncle Ryokan now."

"My Uncle Ryokan!?" Emiko's face lit up with delight. "Yay!"

Kakei waited until Hiruma and the man had gotten a bit farther away before he started walking towards the temple himself. There was a small part of Kakei that couldn't help but to understand why Emiko had been confused. Hiruma had probably told her that lying was bad and against the rules and the girl had gotten very confused when she heard that someone had broken the rules and wasn't in trouble for it. The patience Hiruma had demonstrated just now and his choices of words and explanations were spot on. Kakei was proud to see that Hiruma was highly capable of handling his daughter's issues.

Upon arriving at the temple, Kakei was greeted with another rare scene. Emiko, being the young six year old she was, had somehow managed to get out of her pants and was now running around in her panties, squealing. Hiruma was blushing madly and chasing after his hyperactive child while Kurita stood there next to Takekura, both men trying not to laugh. Anezaki was standing there, holding the pants Emiko had been wearing recently, and just watching with an amused look upon her face.

Since Kakei presumed Hiruma might be a little temperamental about this experience, he withheld his desire to laugh and instead decided to be useful.

"Emiko-chan!" Kakei snapped authoritivly. The little girl stopped running and turned around to look at Kakei curiously when her Papa finally managed to grab a hold of her.

"Ah!" Emiko cried, startled by the hands on her arms.

"Hiruma Emiko!" Hiruma almost growled at his daughter. "That was bad."

"I was bad!?" Emiko cried, tears already falling down her face.

"Yes, you are not allowed to take your pants of and just run around!" Hiruma told her firmly. "You are in trouble when we get home."

"No!" Emiko protested, still crying. Hiruma sighed and looked to Anezaki. He made some hand signals at her and she walked over and handed him the pants. With practiced ease, Hiruma got his pants back on his screaming girl.

"Emiko," Hiruma told her firmly, "if you're good for the rest of the night, you will be in very little trouble when we get home."

Emiko managed to stop sobbing.

"Really?" Emiko asked in a small voice.

"Yes." Hiruma assured her with a smile. "Now, please no more taking off your pants!"

"Okay." Emiko sniffed, but was smiling again. Hiruma pulled his daughter into a tight hug, picked her up and walked over to Kurita.

"Mind if I take a minute?" Hiruma asked his friend.

"Go ahead," Kurita stepped out of the way, "the washroom's where you left it."

Hiruma disappeared into one of the backrooms of the temple with his daughter. After he was gone, everyone in the room burst out laughing.

"I must have missed something." Maruko commented as he walked in on the laughing people.

"Eh!? Kakei is laughing?!" Mizumachi gasped as he came in the door behind Maruko.

"Sorry," Takekura managed to get his laughter under control first, "I haven't ever seen Hiruma with that expression on his face before."

"I haven't seen Hiruma blushing like that in a long time either." Kurita added, still chuckling a little.

"How _did_ she lose her pants anyways?" Kakei asked as he managed to regain his breath.

"She?" Maruko muttered.

"Oh, Emiko had dashed out into the room and Hiruma had tried to grab her before she got too far and he tripped and well…." Anezaki trialed off. "You can picture the rest."

"Emiko is here?" Mizumachi's eyebrows went up.

"Yes, she has to be." Maruko assured Mizumachi. "She's part of the case and has a right to speak on her own behalf."

"But Emiko's only a child-" Kakei protested at the news, Anezaki cut him off as Hiruma and Emiko returned.

"Just because someone isn't an adult doesn't mean they aren't a person." Anezaki pointed out to Kakei. "Emiko's perfectly capable of making observations and understanding as any adult."

"You're right," Mizumachi agreed with Anezaki, "children may be children, but they are still people just like us."

"Mizumachi-san!" Emiko gasped and pointed at the tall man. "Kakei-san! Macro-sama! Anezaki-sensei!" Each person was pointed to in turn.

"Lots of people, Papa!" Emiko was amazed.

"Of course," Hiruma told his daughter, "this is a team effort."

"Ah!" Emiko's face lit up with understanding. "We're going to win, right?"

"Yes." Maruko grinned, perfectly confident that was going to be the case.

"Now Emiko, this is your Uncle Ryokan." Hiruma finally got around to making the introduction he had intended to a long time ago.

"Wow!" Emiko was amazed. "You're huge!"

"Yeah." Kurita smiled and bent down slightly. "Nice to meet you, Emiko-chan."

"Can I climb on your back?" Emiko asked.

"I don't see why not…." Kurita eyed Hiruma to make sure he had the parental okay. Hiruma simply handed his friend his daughter and watched as the girl climbed up onto the shoulders of the giant man.

"I'm the tallest!" Emiko announced.

"Just don't drop her." Hiruma muttered to Kurita quietly. Kurita simply smiled an assuring smile and Hiruma looked significantly more relaxed. Emiko seemed completely content to look around the room at everyone from her perch on Kurita's shoulder.

"So where'd all that sweetness come from?" Takekura asked Hiruma as he pointed at the little girl on Kurita's shoulder.

"Papa's the sweetest!" Emiko announced.

"Her mother." Hiruma answered quickly.

"Are you so sure?" Maruko remarked, sounding a little mocking, "Emiko tells me how sweet you are every time I visit." Hiruma simply glared at Maruko for that comment. The tips of Hiruma's ears had flushed red.

"Well, let's get working on this case." Kakei coughed, not wanting to be too distracted. There were several nods and a general murmur of agreement. Kurita took this time to lead the small party into one of the back rooms of the shrine. Upon arriving in the room Emiko wanted down. When her feet touched the ground she ran over to the small shrine in the corner of the room and sat down in front of it, her eyes taking in all the shapes and colors.

"Oh, it's fine." Kurita assured Hiruma quickly.

"Papa, what's this?" Emiko asked, pointing at the shrine.

"It's a shrine." Hiruma answered as he sat at the small table with the other adults.

Emiko paused a moment and started to pray a little, wishing her mother in heaven some good fortune. Anezaki faintly wondered what Emiko would be praying about, but decided not to pry.

"I got your fax the other day," Maruko began, "and I compared all the symptoms with the 'behavior issues' Saburo had brought to light."

"And?" Kakei asked.

"An exact match." Maruko smirked. "Now we just have to incorporate our witnesses into the case."

"…I'm fine confirming Emiko's behavior as autism, but…." Anezaki shot a glance at the praying girl. "I think Saburo might be abusing her a bit."

"What?" Hiruma had a large, rather psychotic frown on his face and an equally deadly tone to match.

"…Her home doesn't have the signs of a child inside it." Anezaki explained. "And when I made a house call I didn't hear Emiko or see her in the house, even though Saburo claimed she was upstairs."

"…Didn't you say that Saburo Teru had cancer?" Maruko asked.

"Last I checked with the doctor, he was on bed rest and doing poorly." Hiruma answered with a nod.

"…Why do you know that guy's medical situation?" Takekura asked, a bit concerned that his friend knew someone else's medical state.

"I'm his medical advocate." Hiruma answered simply.

"And Saburo Haruka's too ironically enough." Maruko added as he shuffled through the papers on hand.

"His wife doesn't have advocacy for him?" Kurita asked with a confused tone and expression.

"Two people can have advocacy at the same time." Maruko answered. "The real synch is that Hiruma-san has power of attorney for both of them."

"...I can procure some evidence as to whether or not Saburo is actually abusing Emiko," Maruko told Hiruma, "do you care how I go about getting it?"

"Is it going to be illegal and shady?" Hiruma asked.

"No." Maruko answered.

"Do it."

"Since when did you care about the legal-" Mizumachi began then stopped when Emiko walked over and started to climb on her Papa. Hiruma just let her, completely oblivious to the fact he had a child trying to climb up on him.

"Did you say something?" Hiruma asked, giving Mizumachi an annoyed look.

"Nothing." Mizumachi assured Hiruma quickly. Emiko had answered his question, Hiruma was trying to do this for her, so he was going to do it right.

"Anezaki-sensei?" Emiko asked, "did you give Papa my drawing?"

"Yes, she did." Hiruma chuckled.

"Yay!" Emiko smiled. "Did you like it?"

"Y-yeah." Hiruma answered, the tips of ears turned red.

"Hmm…." Takekura remarked loudly, knowing full well that Hiruma was embarrassed about whatever the contents of the picture were. Hiruma simply retorted by giving Takekura a look that said 'if you say a word, I'll kick your sorry ass'.

"Alright, here's basically what everyone should be talking about when the judge calls you to the stand," Maruko began, dragging everyone's attention back to him, "Mizumachi-san will be explaining what autism is and also testifying as a witness for the diagnosis."

"Won't I also be explaining why the case was re-opened?" Mizumachi asked.

"No, that's Kakei's job." Maruko corrected. Kakei simply nodded in approval. "Make sure to dress nicely." Mizumachi was wearing a bright blue tank top at the current moment.

"Of course!" Mizumachi assured Maruko with his usual, happy-go-lucky smile. Maruko didn't seem terribly assured by this, but he didn't let him stop his work.

"Anezaki-san, you'll testify that whatever Saburo is doing at home, it has a negative effect on Emiko's mood and behaviors and that it isn't making her so-called 'mis-raised' behaviors go away." Maruko waited for Anezaki's nod. "Now if my investigation yields some proof that Saburo is actually abusing Emiko-chan, you'd allude to that and transition into that argument."

"Okay." Anezaki nodded.

"What's 'abusing' mean?" Emiko asked suddenly, casting an awkward silence on the room.

"It's a verb that means that someone is doing mean things to someone else all the time and no one but the two people involved really know about it." Hiruma answered after a short while of thought.

"Grandmother hasn't been abusing me," Emiko protested, "she's just been punishing me when I've been bad."

"But you're a good girl!" Anezaki protested back.

"…What did you do bad?" Hiruma asked after a while.

Emiko didn't answer, instead she buried her face into her Papa's shoulder and tried to hold back tears.

"Emiko, please tell me." Hiruma insisted. "I have to know to help."

"No!" Emiko screamed and continued to hide her face in her Papa's shoulder.

"Emiko-chan…." Anezaki muttered, clearly upset by the amount of distress the little girl was in. Maruko stood up and walked over to where Emiko was.

"Emiko-chan, we're trying to figure out whether or not your Grandmother was right in thinking you were behaving badly," Maruko told her gently, "if you were actually bad, you're not in any trouble because your Grandmother has already punished you."

Emiko slowly pulled her face away from Hiruma's shoulder to look at Maruko. She blinked away a few more tears and then went back to hiding behind her Papa's shoulder.

Kakei and Mizumachi shared a distressed look. It was obvious that Emiko wasn't going to give the information without a lot of suffering.

"…I used the wrong soap." Emiko admitted after a minute.

"The wrong soap." Hiruma deadpanned.

"Grandmother was really, really mad, I got three spanks." Emiko confessed.

"That's abuse." Hiruma told Emiko simply. "She shouldn't have been hitting you so something so minor." Emiko simply started crying again and Hiruma pulled her into a hug and then took her out of the room so that she'd calm down a little quicker. All the adults looked to one another before Maruko returned to his seat.

"…I'll get lots of evidence." Maruko promised before he continued. "Now, the two of you can testify that Hiruma hasn't been partaking in any blackmailing and other shady practices for the last six years." The last comment was directed at Kurita and Takekura.

"Yes." Takekura nodded. Kurita also nodded vigorously.

"And all that's left is Hiruma himself…." Maruko commented as he examined his check off list.

"I'll go get him." Anezaki announced, stood up and marched out of the room after Hiruma and Emiko. She followed the sounds of crying into a room two doors down and saw that Hiruma had curled Emiko up in his arms and was now rocking her back and forth. Emiko still seemed very distressed. Hiruma only glanced up at Anezaki when she came into the room.

Without saying anything else, Anezaki walked over and knelt down beside the two of them. She reached out and set her hand on Emiko's back and began to rub gentile circles in it.

"You were very brave today." Anezaki told Emiko. "I'm really proud of you."

Emiko only cried louder and Hiruma suppressed a loud sigh. He looked very tired, as any parent would, considering how much his daughter had been crying all night.

"You're a very good girl, Emiko-chan," Anezaki continued, "what you did just now was a good thing."

"Emiko," Hiruma stopped his rocking, "I can't help anyone if they don't tell me if anything is wrong."

Emiko slowly looked up at her Papa's worried face. "Grandmother isn't bad."

"I don't think your Grandmother is a bad person," Hiruma admitted, "I think she's just a little old and crazy."

"Old and crazy?" Emiko seemed a little confused by this.

"When people get old, sometimes they get a little crazy too and they stop thinking smart ideas." Hiruma explained. "So I think you're Grandmother's a little crazy, but I don't think she's a bad person."

"…Was Mother a bad person?" Emiko asked.

"No." Hiruma shook his head.

"I wanna go home." Emiko wished.

"We're almost done," Anezaki assured the girl, "your Papa just needs to hear some instructions from Marco-sama then we can all go."

"Mmm!" Emiko pulled into her father, a bit more distressed at that thought.

"Do you want to stay here with Anezaki-san while I go and talk to Marco?" Hiruma asked Emiko.

"…Okay." Emiko let go of Hiruma and patted him on the head. Anezaki picked her up and hugged the girl right away. Once Emiko was off of him, Hiruma stood up and set a hand on Anezaki's shoulder. In response, Anezaki gave him a bright smile, knowing that letting Emiko go like this was hard for him. Hiruma left the room quickly.

"You've got such an amazing Papa," Anezaki muttered to the little girl, "he's working really hard for you."

"You'll make Papa happy, right?" Emiko asked Anezaki. "Papa's been really, really sad and I can't make him happy!"

"Emiko-chan…!" Anezaki hadn't really heard about this, so it was rather shocking.

"Papa's really sad, I try hard to make him happy sometimes and he smiles and is still sad!" Emiko ranted. "Papa needs to be happy too!"

"…I'll try to make your Papa happy again." Anezaki assured Emiko.

"Everyone deserves to be happy," Emiko explained, "Grandpapa and Papa both say so."

"Exactly, that's why we're all working so hard to find a place where everyone is happy." Anezaki explained. "And that's why we won't give up or abandon our hopes."

"We're done now." Hiruma announced as he came into the room.

"Papa!" Emiko smiled a bit, her face still tear-stained, but the distress was now gone.

"Come on, let's go home." Hiruma knelt down with a large smile. Emiko pulled away from Anezaki and threw herself into her Papa's open arms. Anezaki smiled as she watched Hiruma ruffle his daughter's hair and proceed to pour complements all over her.

"Papa," Emiko began, "is Anezaki-sensei coming home with us too?"

_=_=_=_=_

Holy crap! I wrote ten pages of chapter! Whee! Please comment!


	25. Father's Day Speical! Omake chapter!

Author's Note: It's a Father's Day Special! And yes, I will have the real update up soon! Four little stories surrounding some of the fathers in Songs for Daddy.

Song: I don't really have a song for this, so just play whatever song you've got fond memories of listening to with your father. In my case it's the Speed Racer theme from the 60s. All characters are by their first names to avoid confusion.

* * *

From Father to Son to Father to Daughter-

Youichi sat down on the couch at his father's place. He was tired, having just watched Chizue's violent death and Emiko's miraculous presence in one day, it was too much for most people. Yuuya had taken him back to the house he grew up in mainly because Yuuya still had his old crib and baby blankets on hand. Currently Yuuya was up the attic getting said things down.

Youichi was holding his little girl in his arms, she was a quiet girl and her big eyes were trying to look at everything at once. Youichi couldn't help but to smile, everything his little girl did was beautiful and amazing. He stopped, frozen with amazement as those brown eyes met his.

Emiko giggled.

Youichi gripped his daughter a little tighter and said, sincerely, for the first time in years, "I love you."

"Love you too Youichi." Yuuya remarked from behind his son and gave his hair a ruffle. Youichi simply turned around and glared at his father.

"All parents love their children unconditionally." Yuuya pointed out. "And you are now a parent."

"Humph!" Youichi pouted.

Emiko giggled again.

And Youichi broke into an idiotic smile.

"Here." Yuuya handed Youichi a small photograph. It was a picture of a younger Yuuya holding a little blue bundle on the very same couch Youichi was sitting on with the same dumb smile on his face.

Youichi blinked once and handed the picture back to his father, a little bit more somber now.

"I just set up your crib in your room." Yuuya told Youichi. "Be thankful I actually cleaned out that pigsty you loved to live in."

Youichi chose not to say anything and went into his old bedroom. There was a futon on the floor and a simple crib beside it. Carefully, Youichi laid Emiko in the crib and tucked her warmly in. Yuuya didn't say anything but understood that he once stood in the same spot his son did, with his son in that same crib.

"Thank you." Youichi whispered, touching Emiko's face. "Thank you."

Yuuya walked up and gave Youichi a hug from the back and said. "Thank you."

Youichi grabbed his father's arms and held them warmly, having found his first understanding with the other man in years. This was a gift from father to son, and from the son-turned-father to daughter.

* * *

Trouble Some Twos

Sena loved Suzuna dearly and the two of them loved their son dearly too. Akira Jarvis Kobayakawa, their son, was a small boy with unruly blue hair and adorable brown eyes. He had big smiles and was often laughing. Now that AJ had finally mastered walking he wanted to master running.

This of course made for some… endearing moments in the Kobayakawa household.

For example there was one day that Sena was celebrating having won a Super Bowl with the rest of his team at his house when AJ went dashing through the room with a kite. Now the significance of this was that the kite got stuck on a table leg and AJ continued to run around with the string, managing to tie all of the adult's legs together in a matter of minutes. No one had really noticed until someone took a step and knocked over everyone else in the room, AJ included.

"Dominos!" AJ squealed happily.

"Gah!" Sena gasped, trying to get out from underneath one of the linemen on his team to admonish his son.

It took Suzuna a good twenty minutes to cut everyone free.

* * *

Daddy's Girl

Teru, much to the chagrin of his coworkers, was slightly obsessed with his daughter. He brought in pictures of little Chizue being nothing less than adorable everyday. He would show them to everyone, whether or not he had their consent. He tried to get his daughter everything she needed.

"Teru!" Haruka snapped, smacked him on the head. "Don't spoil our daughter!"

"Daddy!" Chizue cried, toddling up and asking for a hug.

"But she's too cute!" Teru whipped his daughter up into his arms. "And I love her!"

* * *

I'll do it Papa!

If the thermometer was trustworthy, Hiruma Youichi officially had a fever. He looked at his ragged appearance in the mirror and sighed. His throat was on fire right now, making talking rather hard. His entire body felt like this distant gelatinous substance. He couldn't afford to sit by and nap all day, not with his four year old daughter needing to be taken care of….

"Papa!" Emiko gasped, having just wandered into the bathroom where Youichi was observing his appearance. Youichi turned at her, knowing full well he looked like hell, and tried to muster a smile.

"Papa okay?" Emiko asked, rocking back and forth an obvious sign of distress for her.

"I-!" Youichi was cut off by a horrible coughing fit. His throat was burning up a whole new fire as it protested against the air following through it. Emiko rushed to his side and hugged his leg.

"Papa!" Emiko cried, still distressed. "Papa sick!"

"Yeah." Youichi managed once his fit subsided. He didn't feel like talking because of the pain.

"Come." Emiko seemed to have gotten over her initial distress and was now tugging on his hand. Not really sure what else to do, Youichi followed his daughter's tugging and found himself in the living room. Emiko led him over to the couch, where Emiko then insisted he lay down on it.

_'Oh that's right, I always put her out on the couch when she's sick….'_ Youichi faintly recalled.

"Stay, I'll do it Papa." Emiko assured her Papa before disappearing somewhere else in the apartment. Youichi wanted to sit up and follow her to make sure she was out of trouble, but he no longer had the strength. Emiko came back with the two pillows from Youichi's bed and then tried to stick them under her Papa's head. Somehow Youichi found the strength to lift his head enough for Emiko to put the pillows under his head.

Emiko dashed off again and returned with the comforter from Youichi's bed. She managed to get the large blanket over him before she ran out again. Soon Youichi had Emiko's favorite stuffed animal under his arm (make Papa better!) and a wet towel on his feverish forehead.

"Food, food…." Emiko was muttering, pacing back and fourth in the room, trying to figure out what to do next. She knew her Papa always made her porridge and tea, but Emiko didn't know how to make those.

Youichi, on the other hand, was almost asleep from exhaustion alone. He could barely keep his eyes open and he wasn't too connected into the world.

"Grandma!" Emiko cried, knowing exactly what to do. She went back into her Papa's room and started looking for his cell phone. Finding it on the nightstand, Emiko rushed back into the living room, holding the phone in her hands.

"Papa call Grandma!" Emiko told Youichi firmly. Somehow Youichi managed to reach up, take the cell phone and get it all set to call Saburo. He handed it to Emiko, with a small smile. Emiko looked at the phone then pressed the green button. When the phone made the familiar ringing Emiko smiled and put the phone to her ear. Someone answered.

"Hello Grandma! Papa sick, sick!" Emiko explained as best as she could.

Youichi finally lost his fight to stay awake and passed out the sound of Emiko's voice.

Youichi came to some time later, his towel had been changed, and Emiko had cuddled up on his chest and was now napping on him. Saburo came into the room with a tray full of steaming porridge and tea.

"I called the doctor, he'll be by in an hour to check on you." Saburo told Youichi as she held out a thermometer to check his temperature again. "You've worried Emiko ragged." Saburo gave him a small glare.

Youichi simply let the thermometer get put in his mouth without protest or words. He was too tired to really care.

"She wouldn't leave your side," Saburo went on, "she kept on telling me how sick you were. I can't say I disagree with her either…." Silence fell over the room while Saburo waited for the thermometer to beep. She checked the temperature.

"It's gone down a little." Saburo commented.

"…She did it…." Youichi muttered, proud.

"What?"

"She said she'd take care of me and she did." Youichi answered, whispering to keep the cough at bay.

"…I suppose she did, didn't she?" Saburo smiled at her sleeping granddaughter.

_=_=_=_=_

Happy Father's Day!


	26. 23: Lullaby for a Stormy Night

Author's Note: This chapter hated me and didn't want to be written in the worst kind of way. It's done now. Summer term's started and taken me along as one of its victims. Meh…!

Song: Lullaby for a Stormy Night is by Vienna Teng, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 23: Lullaby for a Stormy Night

Emiko's question was innocent enough, though Hiruma looked rather caught off guard by it. He opened his mouth once then shut it, completely unsure of how he should respond to it. Thankfully Anezaki was there to watch his back, like she had all those times when they played football together.

"I think I might, your Papa owes me a cup of coffee after all…." Anezaki smiled softly, knowing Hiruma would be able to catch on.

"I do, don't I?" Hiruma chuckled for a moment then picked Emiko up. "Let's go home."

"Oh, I have to tell Musashi you're giving me a ride, so I'll be just a minute!" Anezaki hurried out of the room. Takekura had driven her to the shrine initially and she had been planning on leaving with him, but Emiko had a way of changing other people's plans, just like her Papa.

"You're ready to leave?" Takekura asked her, a bit of disappointment in his voice. The man had been hoping to spend some time with Kurita and Hiruma to catch up.

"Oh, no," Anezaki waved her hands to emphasize he point, "Hiruma-kun is taking me home, I just thought you'd want to know!"

"Hiruma's leaving already?" Kurita sounded completely defeated.

"Sorry, it's almost bedtime." Hiruma came in and apologized with a small, sad smile.

"I'm not going to bed." Emiko frowned disapprovingly at Papa.

"We'll see." Hiruma chuckled. Emiko didn't find the joke funny.

"I'm not going to bed!" Emiko poked Hiruma's chest to make her point crystal clear. Anezaki only shook her head.

"Why don't you call one of us and we can hang out again later?" Takekura suggested.

"I'll do that." Hiruma promised. "Now, why don't you say goodbye to your Uncles?"

"Bye bye!" Emiko waved booth arms and smiled happily. "See you later!"

"Bye!" Kurita waved enthusiastically back, a few tears of joy running down his face. Takekura only smiled slightly and gave a small wave of his own.

"No goodbye for me?" Maruko asked, looking mock-offended.

"Bye Marco-sama." Emiko managed a small bow in her Papa's arms.

"No goodbye for me?" Mizumachi looked emotional and hurt. Kakei was standing behind the other man, rubbing his temples.

"Bye crazy guy!" Emiko waved at Mizumachi.

"Whoo! Bye!" Mizumachi waved back before Hiruma could remind his daughter not to call people 'crazy'.

"Bye Kakei-san!" Emiko waved at Kakei who smiled and waved back. Now that the goodbyes had been said, Hiruma and Mamori quickly took their leave of the party. They walked to Hiruma's car in a comfortable silence that was occasionally broken by Emiko's tuneless humming. Once they arrived at the car Anezaki opened the passenger door to see there was already a car seat inside. All of the padding had been removed from the seat, and despite the fact Emiko was a small, waif of a girl, she was rather snug in the seat.

"When you come home, we are going to buy you a booster seat." Hiruma told Emiko firmly as he watched her clip herself into the seat.

"No." Emiko argued with a glare that made her look like her Papa.

"Yes, we are getting you a booster seat." Hiruma's tone left no room for argument. "You are too big for the car seat."

"I still fit!" Emiko protested.

"No, you don't." Hiruma gave his daughter an annoyed look then turned to Anezaki. "Sorry about this."

"It's alright." Anezaki waved it off. Hiruma took this time to turn around and shut the door.

"She's not fond of changes, so I have to remind her a lot before I switch something." Hiruma ran a tired hand through his hair. "I've been at this one for six months."

"Oh my." Anezaki empathized a little, having had the experience of having an emergency drill that freaked Emiko out pretty good the other day.

"I hope you don't mind sitting in the back…." Hiruma muttered, eyeing Emiko sitting in the front seat. She was watching them intently through the window.

"No, I don't." Anezaki assured him as she opened the door and got in behind Emiko. Hiruma got in the car and checked Emiko's seat belt and made a point to look and see that Anezaki was buckled in before he strapped himself in and turned on the engine.

"Ah-oo-radio?" Emiko asked as she looked pointedly at the car stereo.

"The Jets game might be on…." Hiruma muttered as he turned on his satellite radio and tuned into ESPN.

**"-and here comes Eyeshield 21!"** The announcer broke out in crisp English. The background sound of the crowd got louder during the comment.

"Kobayakawa Sena!" Emiko squealed happily.

"Sena!?" Anezaki was a little wide-eyed. She didn't follow Sena's games exactly anymore, mainly because he'd been in the NFL so long it took all the amazement out of it. She knew he had a game coming up, just not so soon.

"Oh that's right…," Hiruma muttered, recalling something, "the Jets are playing the Patriots tonight…."

"Go!" Emiko squealed happily in English. Hiruma chuckled and moved the car out of the garage. Everyone sat down and listened to the game. Occasionally Hiruma would translate something the announcer said, or Emiko would complain about one of the teams' blunders.

"Bad Clifford, he should have back-pitched it to Sena." Emiko complained when she heard about the line breaking, sending Clifford D. Lewis running backwards. Apparently Sena had been open and ready for a pass, but Clifford chose to keep the ball and get sacked for a seven yard loss.

"From the sound of it, that would have just been a pass." Hiruma remarked with a snort. "I _know_ shrimp's fast enough to have gotten himself into a favorable position."

"But his name is Sena, not shrimp." Emiko gave her Papa a confused look.

"That's my nickname for him, Emiko." Hiruma explained. "We've been over this."

"I know!" Emiko smiled and laughed.

"Do you two watch a lot of football games together?" Anezaki asked despite already knowing the answer. Hiruma knew exactly what to translate and when, that's a skill only gained from practice.

"Yes!" Emiko answered. "I've never been to a game live but Papa said he'd take me to one if I did well in school!"

"Well she's been doing very well in school…." Anezaki informed Hiruma with a small grin.

"I've been talking a little to Musashi," Hiruma began, "if I transfer back to his work by the end of this week, I'll be eligible to play this season."

"What's that mean Papa?" Emiko asked, her eyes really open.

"He means he'll be playing games soon." Anezaki answered.

"Papa's gonna play?" Emiko's eyes were wide with wonder and hope.

"Yeah, hey Anezaki," Hiruma addressed her, "would you mind taking Emiko to my first return game?"

"Why can't you take me!?" Emiko cried, distressed.

"Because I'll be playing?" Hiruma pointed out.

"Oh!" Emiko understood. "So I'll go see Papa play?"

"Yeah!" Hiruma smiled.

"Good thing I would have said yes before you decided I would have." Anezaki chuckled.

"Home!" Emiko cried upon seeing the apartment building come into sight.

"Yeah, home." Hiruma had a huge smile as he maneuvered his car through the little parking garage. Once parked everyone got out and traveled the rest of the way to the apartment in squeals and laughs. Having just put the key into the lock, Hiruma's intent to get the door open was halted by the barking on the other side.

"A dog?" Emiko furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Yes, a puppy." Hiruma answered. "She's your real birthday present."

"I have a puppy!?" Emiko gasped, really happy about this.

"A puppy?" Anezaki couldn't help but to remember Cerberus and prayed this dog was nothing like Hiruma's last one. Without any further waiting, Hiruma opened up the door and used his foot to keep Chizue, the puppy, from escaping into the hall. Squealing and grinning, Emiko rushed forward and grabbed the puppy. Chizue yipped in surprise and let herself be held by Emiko without any complaint.

"Don't let her out into the hall." Hiruma told Emiko firmly as he ushered his daughter inside. Anezaki followed quickly and shut the door behind her. Everyone took off their shoes with Chizue dashing around underfoot playfully.

"Does he have a name?" Anezaki asked as she petted the puppy.

"Her name is Chizue." Hiruma answered.

"Chizue the dog." Emiko remarked.

"Yup." Hiruma smiled.

"Anezaki-sensei, would you like to see my room?" Emiko asked. "I think Chizue wants too!"

"Sure." Anezaki smiled and allowed herself to be led into the back rooms of the apartment. Behind a door that had fallen victim to a young artist armed with crayons more than once, was Emiko's room. Anezaki was amazed at the verity of stuffed animals Emiko had (the girl recited all of their names for Anezaki) and the amount of pictures that were on hand (for Papa). Chizue had simply started exploring the room, sniffing everything as she went.

During the middle of Emiko's long explanation of everything that was happening, thunder boomed, freezing the girl stiff. Anezaki was shocked by how quickly Emiko had shut up and froze. Chizue froze up too and started to whimper slightly. Not really sure what to do, Anezaki just stood there, frozen herself.

The sound of Hiruma's feet pounding frantically through the apartment was quickly drowned out by the sound of the rain pounding against the building. Hiruma came into the room with a panicked expression on his face. He dove past Anezaki and stopped right in front of his daughter. Carefully he set his hands on her face and pointed her eyes to meet his.

"Emiko," Hiruma told his daughter in a calming, soft voice, "its okay, I'm here now."

"P-papa!" Emiko cried, finally unfreezing, and threw herself into Papa's arms. Hiruma held her close and ruffled her hair softly. Chizue seemed to have recovered from the thunder and quickly bounded over to cower next to Hiruma's leg.

"Shush." Hiruma whispered softly to his crying daughter. "It's just rain."

Thunder boomed again, making Emiko start to wail unhappily.

"That's just thunder, it can't hurt you...." Hiruma told Emiko gently as he turned around and mouthed to Anezaki 'tea'.

With a nod, Anezaki left Emiko's room and quickly wandered around the apartment to find the kitchen. Hiruma was a man of habit, Anezaki quickly realized, because his kitchen had the exact same set up he had six years ago with the exception that the entire thing was spotless. The fact the apartment was fairly clean was something Anezaki found down right amazing because Hiruma was a very messy person.

Opening a few cupboards, Anezaki found the tea. There was one flavor of tea that had stickers and whatnot all over it. Hoping this was Emiko's tea, Anezaki took a pack out and started to make some up. Since Hiruma was one of those people that had a kettle ready at all times, Anezaki used it to get the hot water in what was the most cute looking coffee cup in Hiruma's cupboard (it was pink).

Upon returning to Emiko's room, she had found that they had changed positions. Emiko had somehow been convinced to put on pajamas and was now cuddled up on her bed. Chizue had cuddled in right next to her and Hiruma was laying on the bed beside the two humming just loud enough to be heard over the storm.

Walking up softly, Anezaki made eye contact with Hiruma for a brief second before kneeling beside Emiko. Emiko heard Anezaki kneel down and turned to look at Anezaki with her big, frightened eyes. When Emiko was frightened she looked like she was in so much pain and fear it was heartbreaking.

"I brought you some tea…." Anezaki told the girl, holding out the steaming mug.

"T-tea?" Emiko asked, her breathing still unstable from all the crying she had been doing.

"Let's sit up to drink it, okay?" Hiruma invited his daughter as he sat up slightly. Emiko latched onto his chest and shut her eyes and braced herself. The thunder boomed again and Emiko and Chizue both yelped and huddled against Hiruma.

"Papa!" Emiko cried again, scared.

"I'm not going anywhere." Hiruma told Emiko as he petted her head gently. "Now, come on and drink some tea, you'll feel better."

Trying to be brave, Emiko managed to pull away from Hiruma slightly to accept the mug from Anezaki. Her little hands were shaking, so Anezaki didn't let go of the mug and instead helped keep it steady. Emiko stared at Anezaki's hands, a bit confused.

"You're not alone right now," Anezaki assured Emiko, "we'll watch over you and keep you safe, okay?"

Emiko nodded once and took the cup to take a drink. Anezaki kept it steady while the girl slowly drank all of the contents. After having the tea, Emiko seemed extremely relaxed and tired. Again the thunder boomed, this time extra loudly and the building shook.

"Ahh!" Emiko cried, more tears flowing down her face.

"When I was your age," Anezaki began, "I used to find thunder really scary."

"Uhh?" Emiko turned and looked at Anezaki, clearly amazed.

"My mother used to tell me that this rain we hear right now falls over everything, plants, trees, our houses…." Anezaki listed a few of the things her mother used to say. "And by landing on everything on all of that, it washes away the dirt and makes the plants nice and strong so that everything is beautiful in the morning."

"R-real-ll-lly?" Emiko asked, having to take more sucking in breaths. "S-song?" The last was directed at her Papa.

"Yes, exactly like the song." Hiruma assured her. "Do you want me to sing it for you?"

Emiko only nodded. Hiruma opened his mouth and began to sing the same song he had been humming earlier. To Anezaki's amazement the song was in English and Hiruma had a soft, calming singing voice. He sang the lullaby slowly and started rocking Emiko back and forth, making her smile and shut her tired eyes. By the end of the song, Emiko's breathing had evened out and she had clearly fallen asleep. Chizue had also passed out, curled up next to Emiko.

"I had no idea you could sing-!" Anezaki whispered in amazement.

"Only for her." Hiruma told Anezaki with a half-serious face. He simply gazed down at his daughter lovingly and kissed her forehead. Anezaki simply stared, amazed at how loving Hiruma was capable of being. He carefully slipped out from beside Emiko and Chizue then tucked them both in.

With an understanding smile, Anezaki followed him out of the room and they shut off the light and left the door cracked open. The two journeyed into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"She's a handful…." Hiruma muttered tiredly as tilted his head back.

"…You were amazing just now," Anezaki began, "I would have never been able to imagine you having the patience to handle-!"

Thunder cut off Anezaki making her eep slightly.

"Still afraid of thunder fucking teacher?" Hiruma asked with an almost mocking grin.

"H-Hiruma!" Anezaki blushed, flustered.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma cackled, completely too amused at Anezaki's expense.

"You are so childish!" Anezaki snapped at him, offended.

"So?" Hiurma asked, still chuckling. "It's not like you don't childishly gorge on fucking creampuffs behind everyone's back still."

"Gah!" Anezaki cried and threw a pillow at him. Hiruma just laughed and caught it. This made Anezaki a little grumpy and she leapt at him with the other couch pillow, only to find herself slipping on one of the plushies that happened to have been left right by the couch. Fate was a very evil woman because she decided that Anezaki should not just land on Hiruma, but to land lip to lip.

After a surprised squeak, Hiruma and Anezaki pushed themselves apart, blushing madly.

"I-I think I'll be leaving now." Anezaki announced quickly.

"Don't you need a ride?" Hiruma asked her before she got too far. "The trains stopped running half an hour ago."

Booming thunder made Anezaki shiver unpleasantly before she could admit he might have a point there.

"…Or maybe you should just stay the fucking night." Hiruma suggested.

"Stay the night?" Anezaki turned around and looked at Hiruma like he was crazy.

"We'll probably be losing power soon," Hiruma warned her, "and I have no intention of climbing 40 flights of stairs. Besides, if Emiko wakes up, she'll want me."

"…That would make me stuck here then…." Anezaki still felt embarrassed about the kiss.

"Do you mind sleeping on the fucking couch?" Hiruma asked.

"It doesn't seem that comfortable." Anezaki observed, eyeing the couch wearily.

"The only other fucking bed is mine and that's where Emiko's going to go running if she wakes up." Hiruma informed Anezaki.

"Then I'll take the couch." Anezaki nodded.

"Lets get you fucking comfy." Hiruma stood up and disappeared into the back of the apartment. Soon the couch was outfitted with some spare pillows and blankets and made as comfortable as possible. Anezaki would occasionally jump when the thunder boomed and Hiruma would either laugh at her or just nod. After the couch was ready, Hiruma threw her a pair of clean boxers and one of his spare shirts for her to sleep in.

Anezaki retreated into the bathroom to clean herself up and dress for bed. Upon exiting she found the door to Emiko's room open. Having found that strange, since Hiruma had shut the door earlier, she went to investigate. Peeking her head into the room, Anezaki saw that Hiruma had sat himself on the side of Emiko's bed and was just watching her sleep.

After a few more moments Hiruma got up silently and began to make his way back out into the hall. There, of course, he found Anezaki spying in on him.

"It's good to have her home." Hiruma said gently, his eyes still looking into the room fondly.

"…I wouldn't have thought you'd make sure a good father," Anezaki admitted, "but you really do make an excellent one."

Hiruma didn't say anything, but it wasn't until he became a father that he realized he could have been a good one. Again the thunder boomed, but this time rattled the building and shut off the power. Emiko yelped and sat up in the strange, new darkness. Chizue woke up when her human-pillow moved and started to whine uncomfortably.

"Papa!" Emiko cried, picking up Chizue and leaping out of bed. She ran frantically into the hall and her Papa's waiting arms. "Turn on the light! It's scary!"

"I can't," Hiruma admitted, "the power just went out."

"I can't see!" Emiko cried, really upset by this.

"Do you have a flashlight anywhere?" Anezaki asked.

"…The batteries are dead." Hiruma recalled after a moment. "There's a few candles in my room, let's go there."

"Papa…." Emiko cried and huddled against him tightly. Chizue whined too. Carefully, Hiruma carried Emiko and Chizue while Anezaki followed him to his bedroom.

"It's a bit messy." Hiruma muttered as he managed to get the door open. Anezaki was almost relieved to hear that Hiruma had at least one truly messy room in home, though she chose not to voice this. She tread carefully across the floor to make sure she didn't trip over anything.

"Ouch!" Anezaki gasped when her knees crashed into the footboard of Hiruma's bed.

"Just stay on the bed." Hiruma instructed her, knowing Anezaki had found it. "Emiko, can you stay with Mamori for a minute while Papa finds some candles?"

"But it's scary!" Emiko sobbed.

"I know, that's why I want you to be brave for a minute, okay?" Hiruma asked in a soft voice. Anezaki had taken this time to get on the bed and felt Hiruma sit down on the side. Emiko sniffled more than once, but she crawled out of her father's arms and squeaked the second she didn't find anyone to grasp on the bed. Anezaki reached out and touched the quivering girl's shoulder. Without needing any prompting, Anezaki grabbed Emiko and pulled her tight and close.

"Shuush, you're safe now, I'm here now." Anezaki was faintly aware that Chizue had found her and was now curled up next to her. Hiruma's weight left the bed and moments later there was the sound of a lighter being clicked and light started to poor across the room. Hiruma turned around and held out the candle he had lit. It was a tall, white candle and it cast a gentle light over the room. Emiko turned around and looked at her Papa with tears.

"Let's just stay here until morning, ne?" Hiruma suggested as he sat down on his large bed. Emiko nodded, looking somewhat relieved by the notion. Even Anezaki found herself comforted by the notion, since she wasn't fond of storms and would definitely like the comfort of another person. They all crawled under the covers and Emiko firmly planted herself between the two adults. Hiruma moved close enough to put an arm around Emiko's waist while Anezaki hadn't let go. Chizue snuggled in next to Emiko's head which the girl seemed to find comforting.

"Song?" Emiko asked, her eyes starting to drop as she relaxed.

And Hiruma opened his mouth and sang. Anezaki found the words reaching out and calming her upset mind. It was true, the storm would pass and leave a beautiful world in the morning. She and Emiko fell asleep quickly.

Watching the two females sleep made Hiruma really happy. Having Anezaki be comfortable with the idea of staying in his home, in his bed, with him in it, also comforted him. He looked down at his sleeping daughter with a wry smile.

"You're going to be the death of me…." Hiruma muttered to Emiko. "Already out playing me…."

It was true, he'd played right into Emiko's small hands, he'd fallen right in love with Anezaki Mamori, just like she wanted.

_=_=_=_=_

This chapter hated me in the worst sort of way. It would not be written, gah…. Please comment.


	27. 24: Because of You

Author's Note: Heya! I'm going to Kumori Con this year! If any of you are interested in meeting up with me, or wondering what, where, and when that is, either tell me in a review or shoot me a PM.

Song: Because of You is by Kelly Clarkson, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 24: Because of You

There are many kinds of dreams. Sweet dreams, beautiful dreams, dreams of hope and salvation. In the past Hiruma had been a dreamer, a person who sought the impossible with an innocent, childish determination and joy. But the past stays in the past and Hiruma had grown out of his childish dreams and faced his adult reality with a set expression. But what is in the present is never the same that was in the past….

Hiruma had stopped dreaming.

One could say the man lost his ambition in life, or one could say that adults simply knew better than to have dreams. But with Hiruma that wasn't entirely the case. He stopped making new dreams and hopes for himself the day he promised his hand to Chizue's. That same night he dreamed a dreamless sleep. And each night that followed no dreams would come. He would wake in the morning recalling blankness or blackness. He still had his dreams and ambitions from pervious times, but they seemed to lose their color after time passed….

Then Chizue became pregnant. Hiruma had acknowledged his part in this and decided to take responsibility for that. He nursed his sickly wife through the hormones, the late night food requests, and her generally broken personality. Chizue had grown up twisted and she shoved all of that onto Hiruma as she grew weaker while her belly grew bigger.

Chizue did many things to Hiruma's mind and spirit. One could say she sought to destroy them both. But in the end she only made Hiruma crack and tremble, the man did not break, but he was not was not unscarred either.

"Why are you killing me?" Chizue had asked Hiruma while she was laying on those white hospital sheets, her body convulsing in the heavy labor. "Why?"

Hiruma had no answer, in fact, he still didn't. So he just stared on and numbly watched the birth of the most amazing person he had ever met.

Emiko's presence in his life had done wonders, anyone could tell you this. She made Hiruma stop his blackmailing ways, she made him stop swearing, she made him become a productive adult in society.

Emiko gave Hiruma dreams again.

But not in the way anyone would have wanted.

Unknowingly, Emiko gave Hiruma the foulest kind of dream: nightmares. At night Hiruma would be haunted by images of himself failing as a father, Emiko hating him, or unspeakably tragic things happening to his daughter. Often Chizue would appear in these dreams and mockingly call him 'Daddy' then tell him just how much he managed to mess up.

Hiruma, one day, had had enough and decided to stop dreaming and just take care of his precious daughter. And since then, he had no dreams, not even nightmares.

Until tonight.

With the presence of Anezaki beside him and Emiko's fear and the fact that he knew, come morning, he'd have to give her back to Saburo again, Hiruma's will against the nightmares failed. And they returned, filling his mind with poisonous images of Chizue taking him against his will, and of Emiko dying at his own hands.

Kobayakawa must still be looking out for Hiruma, because the man's image punched Hiruma into consciousness once more.

With a quick gasp, Hiruma opened his eyes and stared at the familiar ceiling of his current residence. The air of the room smelled of burnt candle and there was a woman sleeping, curled up, at his side.

_'Chizue-!'_ Hiruma turned his head to look at the sleeping face of Anezaki. He relaxed slightly and recalled the night before. There had been a storm, the power had gone out late at night, and they all decided to sleep in his bed at his invitation. Unfortunately Anezaki had curled up next to him the same way Chizue had after sex, which was probably what inspired him to relive a twisted version of one of the times he actually had sex with Chizue….

Not that Hiruma's memories of being an unwilling partner to the hormonal Chizue had been a whole lot better….

With another long, shuddering breath out, Hiruma looked around to regain the rest of his bearings. Emiko had moved in her sleep as well, she was laying on his chest, using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Emiko-!" Hiruma muttered and touched Emiko's warm head. With slightly trembling fingers, Hiruma ran his hand down the side of Emiko's head to her neck. Delicately, those fingers probed for wounds and when they found none, Hiruma checked her pulse. Nice, strong, and healthy as it should be.

"Thank god…!" Hiruma muttered almost crying in relief. That's right, that was just a nightmare, Emiko was still here and sleeping peacefully. Knowing Emiko was here and well comforted Hiruma even though his some idiotic part of his mind was still thinking that Chizue was the one sleeping on the other side of him. Without thinking, Hiruma had stuck his hand in Emiko's silky locks and was petting her. Even though Emiko clearly had her mother's hair, it was still softer than Chizue's had ever been. Secretly, Hiruma loved feel it, so he was always putting ribbons in it. Thankfully Emiko liked the ribbons too or that would have been really problematic.

_'She's here, she's safe, she's alive…!'_ Hiruma kept chanting in his mind, trying to wash the images of Emiko's corpse from his mind. Because Hiruma knew that if he actually lost Emiko for good, he'd probably kill himself.

_Ceek!_ The bed protested when Chizue (the dog) jumped onto the bed. The little puppy bounded her way across the bed to where Hiruma's head was. She stared at him with those big, brown, all-seeing eyes.

Hiruma froze and went stiff, his memories of Chizue and the dream flashing through his mind. He shut his eyes and started petting Emiko a little firmer, trying to assure himself he wasn't reliving that nightmare.

"Ungh!" Emiko protested. "Bad doggie!" She started batting away at Hiruma's hand. Eyes shooting open again, Hiruma stopped applying pressure and started feeling guilty for waking his girl.

"Arf!" Chizue protested and then made an annoyed growling noise that she always did when her meal was late.

"Oh that's right…." Hiruma muttered and glanced at his bedside clock that was blinking 12:00. The power had gone out and he had lost all sense of time that morning.

"If you want food…." Hiruma muttered, it was after 8:30 then. Emiko was to be woken up at 8:00….

With another sigh, Hiruma sat up, making Emiko squeak in protest.

"No!" Emiko grabbed onto his shirt. "I don't wanna get up!"

"Unhh?" Anezaki muttered, not used to be woken up by protesting children.

"We've slept in long enough," Hiruma told Emiko flatly, "come on, Chizue's hungry, you want to feed-"

Hiruma stopped himself as he recalled Chizue's disturbing choice of words from his dream.

"Papa?" Emiko looked up at him, confused.

"-don't want her to go hungry." Hiruma finished lamely.

"What time is it?" Anezaki asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"After 8:30." Hiruma answered as he stood up, carrying the sleepy Emiko in his arms. "You're awfully heavy, I'm going to set you down now, okay?"

"No!" Emiko protested and Hiruma set her down anyways.

"Wow…." Anezaki muttered, glancing around at the disaster zone that was Hiruma's bedroom. The only part that was remotely clean was the path from the door to the bed. She glanced down at Hiruma's bed forlornly, why'd he have to own such a comfy bed?

"Are you coming?" Emiko asked as she stood in the doorway with her Papa.

"Yes yes!" Anezaki flew out of bed comically.

"Ke ke ke!" Both father and daughter laughed at Anezaki together. Anezaki made a face and stuck her tongue out at them childishly.

"Now Emiko, Anezaki-sensei is being immature, don't behave that way, okay?" Hiruma explained to Emiko with a joking smile on his face.

"Sure Papa!" Emiko smiled back.

_"Arf!"_ Chizue protested from the kitchen.

"Let's not keep her waiting, okay?" And Hiruma led them into the kitchen. He showed Emiko where the dog food was located and how much Chizue got to eat. Then, with her Papa watching over her, Emiko proceeded to feed Chizue all by herself.

Without needing any prompting, Anezaki opened up the fridge and started to take out fixings for everyone else's breakfast. Emiko immediately asked if she could help and Anezaki was more than willing to oblige her. Hiruma sat down at the kitchen table and took a deep breath.

Normally he got over nightmares within minutes of waking up but this one had been so graphic and violent, he doubted it was going to leave his mind easily. Seeing Emiko running around with her ever-present smile was helping dispel part of the dream, but the presence of Chizue was hindering the other part leaving.

If Hiruma didn't know any better, he would say that that dog was a reincarnation of his previous wife and she was being jealous as hell. Chizue had always been jealous of Anezaki, even though they had never met. Hiruma never really understood why his late wife had been so bitter towards his friend whenever he mentioned her in passing. He didn't get why Chizue would actively try to prevent him from going out on the occasions he had told her he was going to meet up with Anezaki.

Currently the little dog was trying to be underfoot, something she had never been in Hiruma's kitchen. Poor Anezaki was having a great deal of difficultly maneuvering. Emiko was also partly underfoot too, but that's just how Emiko was. Always moving and pacing back and forth, her arms flapping whenever she was really excited.

"Ack!" Anezaki almost fell over, frying pan and all, when Chizue whipped around her leg while she was trying to turn. Almost because Hiruma had moved and caught her.

"Trying to fall head over heels, mmm?" Hiruma teased as he righted the blushing Anezaki.

"N-no!" Anezaki protested and went back to trying to cook breakfast. Hiruma sat back down and made eye contact with the dog.

Suddenly it wasn't the dog on his kitchen floor, it was a cold, naked Chizue who was more than a little bit pissed. Hiruma shivered once and shut his eyes, trying to dispel the image from his mind.

Emiko stopped smiling when she turned around to look at her Papa.

Something was wrong.

_=_=_=_=_

Please don't kill me and comment!


	28. 25: My Immortal

Author's Note: Well sorry for the lateness of the update. Anyone who has my IM would know that finding a song for this chapter and getting the content to match it was particularly difficult. I hope you like it all the same.

Song: My Immortal is by Evanescence, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 25: My Immortal

Emiko didn't say anything because she didn't know what to say. Papa was always happy in the mornings and lately he was always really happy to be around Emiko….

So why did Papa look like he was scared and hurting? Did the bad men do something to him? Emiko didn't know, she just didn't. She'd been her happy, smiling self all morning, that usually made Papa happy too, but he sat there with his eyes scrunched shut….

Somebody had done something to her Papa and it made Emiko sad. Papa shouldn't be having bad things happen to him, Papa was a good person!

"Grr!" Emiko growled, really mad at the people that were making Papa so upset.

"Emiko." Hiruma opened his eyes and looked down at his daughter. She was glaring at something unseen and growling at it. Anezaki had turned and looked down at Emiko, not sure how to interpret the actions either. Emiko only growled at people when they were being mean to Nozomi it seemed….

"Emiko-chan?" Anezaki asked.

Emiko was still mad, she couldn't not be mad, Papa was hurting! She was so mad that the rest of the world didn't matter, all that mattered was all the bad, bad things that she was going to do to those bad people when she-!

"Ahh!" Emiko cried and lashed out at the sudden touch on her shoulder. She jumped as if she had been bitten and turned around to fight only to see it was Papa's hand she had smacked away. Papa's face changed slightly and he withdrew his hand slowly. He sat back down in the chair slowly too, not saying anything and looking at his own feet. He set his head in the arm he had propped up on the table and let out a long breath.

"Hiruma-kun?" Anezaki asked her voice full of concern. Somehow something this morning had gone horribly awry. She didn't know what exactly, but that dog – Chizue – was being really badly behaved and mean to her. She wasn't biting but Cerberus had had a nicer general demeanor around Anezaki than this new dog did. On top of that Emiko had started growling and getting mad at something in midair then Hiruma's depressed state.

Things had been fine moments ago too!

"N-nothing." Hiruma answered waving his hand and shaking his head slightly, brushing off something that was really weighing down on him.

Anezaki opened her mouth to press more when a small dingle was heard from the living room.

"Taiki-sama-!" Emiko remarked, having recognized the ring tone.

"Taiki?" Anezaki frowned, not really sure who Emiko was talking about.

"My old boss." Hiruma answered before he left to go answer it. Hiruma picked up the phone and his mood turned fowl. Taiki Watari, the man who had 'taken pity' on him and hired him 'in a time of need' six years ago. Since Hiruma was reestablishing ties with his old life and being offered a position back on the team, Hiruma had decided to quit his current work and return to his old work with Takekura. Of course, Taiki hadn't been pleased but the man didn't have a clue who he was messing with.

"Taiki-sama." Hiruma answered the phone crisply.

_"Where have you been all morning!?"_ Taiki's jowl was probably flapping madly and cherry red, if Hiruma was remembering the sound right.

"At my home, sleeping." Hiruma answered with a yawn. He then pulled the phone away from his ear to check the time while Taiki yelled some nonsense about Hiruma being really late to some meeting that had started at 8:00 am that morning. No wonder his old boss was so wound up, he was two hours late.

"Are you done screaming?" Hiruma asked calmly as he put the phone back.

_"You missed the entire thing, you sorry bastard!"_ Taiki wheezed, having lost his breath to the rant Hiruma hadn't bothered to listen to. _"Get your ass in here right now!"_

"But I don't work for you anymore." Hiruma commented, it was the truth.

_"This is about that, you sorry moron!"_ Taiki snapped.

"What do you need me there in _person_ for?" Hiruma asked.

_"You're living in a company apartment, if you want to continue living there, you get your ass down here. Now."_ Taiki hung up.

_'Shit-!'_ Hiruma stared at his phone, his eyes wide with realization. Of course when he had been offered a nice company apartment, Hiruma had jumped at the opportunity to move out of his father's home and moved in without thinking about the consequences. Of course since he was just quitting his job, that meant he was also quitting the apartment….

"Fuck!" Hiruma hissed really quietly under his breath. He walked right back into his bedroom in a huff. First there was that nightmare, then there was the dog acting up, then Emiko's funny behavior, and finally this shit.

Someone was going to die if they continued to try Hiruma like this.

"Hiruma-kun?" Anezaki knocked on the outside of his door. "What is happening?"

Hiruma stopped putting on his pants when he realized that both Anezaki and Emiko were in the house and he couldn't just up and leave without some consequences. He didn't know how long this meeting with Taiki was going to take and Emiko had to be back at his father's place by noon….

Shit.

"I'm decent." Hiruma announced as he finished putting on his pants. He bent down and started searching the floor for a clean shirt and socks.

"What is going on!?" Anezaki asked, sounding fretful.

"I have to go deal with my old boss one last time." Hiruma answered as he picked up a matching pair of socks.

"But what about Emiko?" Anezaki looked really upset. Hiruma in a mood just short of murderous and she had no idea what was going to happen to anyone at this point.

"You take care of her." Hiruma told Anezaki after a moment's decision. "She needs to be taken back to my father's place at noon."

"What?" Anezaki was extremely confused.

"Here's his number, you can get directions from him." Hiruma quickly picked up a scrap bit of paper and scribbled down a number on it and shoved it in Anezaki's palm.

"Azuma-san next door has a spare key, get her to lock up when you leave." Hiruma told Anezaki as he went into the kitchen in search of Emiko.

"Hiruma wait-!" Anezaki protested in vain. Nothing was stopping the hurried man. Emiko wasn't in the kitchen, Hiruma frowned, 75% chance Emiko had gone into her room which meant there was an 80% chance of him successfully getting a gun out without her knowing. Hiruma grabbed one of the chairs, pushed it up against the counter and got into the gun safe.

"…Why?" Anezaki asked lamely as she watched him expertly pull the fire arms out of the top cabinet and discretely put them away on his person.

"I don't have time." Hiruma told her as he shut the gun safe.

"You'll take her to the park, right?" Hiruma asked her, his expression almost desperate. "I was going to take her this morning and I can't…."

"I-" Anezaki's breath got caught in her throat at the sight of Hiruma's plight, "-will."

"Thank you." Hiruma managed a small, tired and fragile smile then jumped down from the chair. He went right into Emiko's room where the girl had huddled under her pink baby blanket, distressed.

_"I want to have this baby," Chizue had told him, clutching her still flat stomach, "I want it to grow up into a beautiful, loving person." She had looked him in the eye then. "Is that too much to ask?"_

Hiruma silently thanked Chizue for having been so sincerely wanting to have Emiko. That little girl was everything to him and to think he was abandoning her again-!

"Emiko…." Hiruma called out softly to his daughter, disrupting his thoughts. "I have to go."

"P-papa?" Emiko's teary voice warbled from under the blanket.

"I'm leaving you here with Anezaki, she's going to take you to the park." Hiruma told Emiko gently. "You'll be good for her, yes?"

"Don't go!" Emiko cried, unable to move out from beneath the blanket because her legs were tangled up in it.

"S-sorry." Hiruma hung his head and left the doorway. Tears wanted to burst from his eyes, but the recollection of Chizue's slap was enough to keep them in. He grabbed his keys, his computer and threw on his shoes. Anezaki simply waited for him at the doorway.

"Be safe…." Anezaki wished him with a soft breath. Hiruma stopped, turned, and looked at her. She was worried, Emiko was worried too. Hiruma grimaced and gave her a hopeless, apologetic look, and left without another word.

"Grr!" Chizue growled at Anezaki, her teeth bared.

"Chizue-!" Anezaki gasped as if she just realized something. She turned around and looked at the little dog who was growling at her, growling and spitting like a jealous woman.

Shutting the door Anezaki put her hands on her hips and looked down at the dog with a frown.

"I see…." Anezaki muttered.

Despite being mentally wound up, Hiruma made sure to go slow and be extra cautious while he was still on the road. Getting into a car accident just because he was being pissy wasn't Hiruma's style at all. That and getting this hurt when he was this close to getting Emiko back….

Unforgivable, that's what it'd be.

Hiruma pulled into his assigned parking space in the company lot. After shutting the car door and looking around at the sea of cars, Hiruma frowned hard. Taiki hadn't released him yet it seemed. With an annoyed grunt, Hiruma crossed the large parking lot and entered the building. There he was greeted by the surprised secretaries.

"Didn't you quit, Hiruma-sama?" One of them asked.

"Just the last of the red tape." Hiruma answered and walked past them to the elevators, not even sparing them a glance.

"…His girl must be sick again…." The second secretary muttered with a sigh. Hiruma was usually a lot nicer to be around when his child wasn't ill.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened and allowed Hiruma inside. He pushed a familiar button and typed in an equally familiar employee number into the keypad. A second later the elevator confirmed his meeting and allowed him to travel up to meet with Taiki.

Since there was a lull Hiruma let his mind spin out all of what had been bothering him as of late. It wouldn't do to lose his cool and snap at Taiki with several guns on his person.

The first thing that had been bothering him was giving up Emiko to someone else today, knowing that she was going back to Saburo. That had been bothering him all of yesterday and into the evening. It still bothered him right now, even though he had already given her up for the day to someone else….

Then there was the dream. Having Chizue do _that_ to him again, as disturbing as that had been, wasn't the part that disturbed him and bothered him too much. It was killing Emiko and how he had done it that really bothered him.

Because there had been truth in that statement.

Originally Chizue and he had decided to not have children. They used several layers of birth control to make sure that there wouldn't be any conception when they did have sex. And when he found out Chizue was pregnant, they had deeply considered having an abortion. But in the end Chizue carried Emiko full term and died bringing Emiko into the world.

_I can't kill it, it's mine!_ Chizue's voice snapped in his ear, making him turn around to see nothing. Rubbing his temples, Hiruma realized he had a headache. Caffeine withdrawal.

"Fuck." Hiruma muttered, realizing that he had skipped breakfast and coffee that morning.

Chizue would have just given him a pitying look and turned away.

That-! That probably had something – no – everything to do with all that was happening this morning. The scars Chizue left him before she died still hurt and bleed it seemed.

"Fucking woman-!" Hiruma hissed, angry. He thought he had gotten over all of this, but in reality he'd just been too busy running away to see that the wounds had been festering. He faintly wondered how long he was going to pay for the mistakes he made six years ago….

"Took you long enough." Taiki commented as the elevator doors opened. He was a really old, fat man that looked more like a pig than a human. Hiruma held is breath to try and avoid the man's horrible body odor. With a nod, Hiruma walked into the room and stood beside the man's desk. There was no chair for him to sit in and it would take Taiki almost two minutes to waddle his blubbery mass over to his desk. As was predictable, the man would be wheezing and coughing by the time he finally managed to get to his chair. It would take him another minute to settle down in his too small chair.

"So, you actually have the balls to tell me you're quitting without the three month notice and still demand to live in the company housing." Taiki was not amused. "And you wouldn't give me a reason why either even after all the favors I have done you…."

"Favors?" Hiruma asked darkly, "I don't recall you doing me _any_ real favors."

"And what about not making inquiries to your previous employer?" Taiki asked, glaring. "And what about offering you and your daughter a roof to put over your heads?"

"I-" Hiruma began and found himself standing there, stuck in his head for a moment.

Regret.

"-that wasn't a favor." Hiruma finished.

"How so?" Taiki asked.

_I have no regrets…._ His memory of Chizue reminded him, showing him an image of her looking extremely sickly and being extremely pregnant. _I've always wanted this child…._

Hiruma shut his eyes and took a breath, trying to force Chizue from his mind. Now was not the time to be falling into revelries of the past.

"I'm not going to explain it to you." Hiruma answered giving Taiki a firm look.

"And you want to get evicted from your home?" Taiki asked.

_You ought to stop doing that, it won't be good for the baby…._ Chizue whispered in his ear again.

"I have no intention of moving." Hiruma told Taiki firmly, he wasn't going to let this man win, but he was running out of cards to play very fast.

_You'd do anything for Emiko, right?_ Chizue pointed out, _then please don't put her in danger needlessly._

"-ruma! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Taiki snapped, irritated. Hiruma jerked, startled out of whatever illusion had been over his face. Taiki had probably said several things, the first of which was Hiruma returning to the job but….

Chizue's ghost had finally caught up to him.

The reason he had spent so many years running away, had finally caught up with him and he was paying for it.

"I'm going to be frank with you, Youichi," Taiki said, lighting up a cigar, "you are either going to quit and get kicked out of your home or you are going to stay here at this job with your home. Choose now."

_Don't complicate things for Emiko, just keep them they way they are._ Chizue advised him. _This is just a small sacrifice for her…._

Hiruma couldn't look away, Chizue was standing right before him.

"No." Hiruma told Chizue pointedly.

"Wh-what?" Taiki was sweating out of nervousness now. Hiruma was clearly seeing things and _talking_ to them. On top of that he looked murderous.

_Youichi don't make this mistake!_ Chizue pleaded.

"Is it a mistake to live?" Hiruma asked Chizue.

_I _died_ for Emiko!_ Chizue was glaring at him. _And you decided to take care of her, which is fine by me, but then you managed to mess everything up! My mother _is_ right about you!_

"Like hell she is!" Hiruma snapped, pulling out a gun and firing a few rounds into the air to make his point. "I already killed myself for Emiko and I'm done with all of this selflessness shit!"

"Hiruma-san!" Taiki whimpered, more than a little intimidated by the gun.

"It's all your damn fault, you fucking woman!" Hiruma continued to yell at the appalled Chizue. "Because I _can_ live and enjoy my-fucking-self and raise Emiko at the same fucking time!"

_Youichi,_ Chizue stepped aside, showing him the freaked out Taiki, _if this is your solution to getting that choice it will only prove my mother right and you'll lose everything that matters._

Hiruma shot a few rounds at the ghost of Chizue, making it bleed.

"Why do you think I waited until you moved away from the fucking pig head?" Hiruma asked Chizue darkly as she convulsed. "You're fucking dead, stay that way!"

_Emiko will find out what kind of beast you really are, Youichi, and she'll hate you for it!_ Chizue snapped at him. _I know she will because she's my daughter!_

And Chizue was gone but her scent remained.

Hiruma turned and looked down at Taiki, who was simply quivering in his chair.

"You've never done me any favors," Hiruma said in a manner he used to speak with Emiko when she was confused, "in fact by not contacting the fucking old man you did me a _disservice."_

"R-really?" Taiki stuttered.

"And then you jerked me around for six years, giving me unreasonable meetings, too much work, and a ton of shit." Hiruma continued. "And that is why I am fucking quitting."

"Then you'll have to be evicted." Taiki told him. "I can't provide you with a home if you aren't an employee, it's company policy." Then he regretted it because Hiruma fired a few bullets right by his head.

"Then I'll just have to fucking retire now won't I?" Hiruma told Taiki slowly.

"Y-yes!" Taiki squeaked.

Hiruma stood there and watched Taiki write up the papers for his retirement.

_Mother's always know, Youichi_, Chizue whispered in his ear, _mothers always know best. I'm glad Emiko will be with my Mother now._

Hiruma turned and looked at the ghost of Chizue who was looking at him with her usual expressionless face.

_Don't worry Youichi, I'll tell her for you._ And Chizue drifted away.

'_Shit!'_

Hiruma just then truly recalled the extent of what he had just done.

Now the entire custody case was in jeopardy.

_=_=_=_=_

This chapter didn't like me, it took me forever to get right. Thankfully its written now. Tell me what you think.


	29. 26: Picking Up Pieces

Author's Note: Summer classes were kicking my ass. Thankfully I was able to update eventually. I hope you like it.

Song: Picking Up Pieces is by Blue October, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 26: Picking Up Pieces

A loud clatter and the puzzle was on the floor, scattering pieces across the floor and all over Chizue. Anezaki gasped slightly, having been the one to knock over the puzzle. Emiko frowned, got out of her chair and got down off her chair.

"Chizue, move now." Emiko told the dog. The dog blinked once, shook off the pieces and moved out of the way. Carefully, Emiko began to put the puzzle back in the box.

"Emiko-chan?" Anezaki asked. Emiko hadn't wanted to go to the park when Anezaki offered to take her. Instead they had been doing a puzzle with Chizue underfoot. The fact that Emiko had refused made Anezaki wonder exactly what was bothering the girl.

The sound of pieces hitting the box was her answer.

"Is something wrong?" Anezaki asked.

Emiko shook her head. Nothing was wrong, yet. Everything would go back to being wrong when she got back to Grandma's house today. But until then, it wasn't wrong.

Chizue picked up a piece and handed it to Emiko. The little girl looked at the dog and frowned.

"…Don't bite that." Emiko told Chizue and took the piece from her. "And don't be mean to Anezaki-sensei, she's going to be my Mama someday."

Chizue and Anezaki only stared at the girl as she continued to put the puzzle away.

**-With Hiruma-**

Hiruma left the building and sat down his car and put his face in his hands and shook with unshed tears. He was starting to crumble under all of this pressure. The damage Chieko had done to him and the damage he had done to himself were keeping him from getting help. His mind was of course, in agony, thinking up horrible thoughts about what had just happened and how fucked up a future he was going to be looking at soon. Maybe that fucking God was using this as a punishment for all the shit he'd done in his life.

"Aye!" Hiruma jumped slightly, his phone having just started ringing and startling him pretty good. With a shake of his head, Hiruma got a grip on what was hopefully reality and answered the phone.

"Hello." Hiruma greeted the other person, wishing he had checked the caller ID.

_"Hiruma-san,"_ Maruko greeted him on the other end, _"I'm about to initiate the abuse investigation-"_ Hiruma cut Maruko off.

"I fucked it up." Hiruma announced. Maruko, for the better or worse, had been one of the few people that he had been close to these last six years. One of the few people he trusted despite the damage.

_"-…Hiruma-san?"_ Maruko asked, concerned.

In response, Hiruma recounted his morning. He did not say outright that he had been seeing Chizue's ghost all morning, but he hinted at it. Maruko, being the sharp man he was, understood well enough.

"…I can fix this. Stay where you are." Maruko told Hiruma firmly and hung up before the man could say anything. Maruko decided to call a different number.

_"What the fuck do you want trash!?"_ Kongo demanded on the other side.

"I need you to go to a certain address and traumatize an old, fat man till the point he's hallucinating." Maruko told Kongo simply. "And I have another favor of you once you're done with that."

_"…So these are your trash favors?"_ Kongo asked.

"Only two of the four hundred." Maruko chuckled. "Now the second favor is at another address. There's an old woman, her bedridden husband, and their granddaughter living there. I want you to take your brother and see if there's any abuse happening there."

_"You want me to spy on a fucking old hag?"_ Kongo was unamused. _"After fucking up an old man's head!?"_

"The old man happens to be the CEO of Bookkeepers INC." Maruko pointed out as he examined his nails. "And I don't think anyone will care if you raid his wallet."

_"And why should I fucking care about the hag?"_ Kongo demanded.

"The granddaughter's name is Hiruma Emiko." Maruko decided to drop that bomb.

Kongo dropped the phone in shock. There was some frantic shuffling.

_"That fucking trash has a daughter?"_ Kongo asked, sounding unconvinced.

"I'll send you a picture." Maruko pulled out his e-mail and sent Kongo the picture of Emiko on her passport. She was grinning with all of her white teeth and pointy ears.

_"What the hell?"_ Kongo gasped, completely amazed by the truth of it.

"You might learn something about what Hiruma-san has been up to these last couple of years if you observe his daughter." Maruko pointed out.

_"Give me the addresses."_ Kongo demanded. And Maruko did and listened to Kongo hang up. With a pause Maruko called Hiruma back.

"I know someone that owes me a favor, he's going to make your old boss insane," Maruko told Hiruma, "so your ass is covered for now."

_"…Okay."_ Hiruma sounded exhausted.

"You should go get a drink to unwind. I personally recommend going to 'Lapin'." Maruko advised him. "You're going to need something after hallucinating like that.'

_"It's not like-"_ Hiruma cut himself off when he realized how he was sounding, _"-fine."_

"Drive safely, there's a yakuza heading into the neighborhood." Maruko warned Hiruma.

_"Alright."_ Hiruma muttered and hung up. Maruko sighed and rubbed his temples and decided to make three more phone calls. Two people were busy at work and one wasn't at home. Frowning, Maruko made a fourth call and got an answer.

"Sir, I need you to help someone I know…." Maruko began.

**-Later, at the Bar Lapin-**

Hiruma entered the bar and wasn't surprised. It was a typical bar, lit just enough to not be called 'dim' but not enough to be called 'well-lit'. There were three bartenders, all dressed nicely and greeting him with a 'welcome'. Nodding his head once, Hiruma walked over to the counter and took a seat on the end. He didn't say anything to any of the bartenders.

One of the bartenders shut his eyes in a polite understanding and started to prepare Hiruma a drink. With a somewhat numb look, Hiruma watched as the man cracked an egg, dashed in splashes of various things, and ultimately pour in rum then shake the concoction. When it was all done he poured the drink into a rounded glass and pushed it towards Hiruma.

Normally, when Hiruma appeared at a bar, he'd order his drinks straight. Cocktails weren't his thing but judging from the look on the bartender's face, he had made the cocktail Hiruma had needed. Looking carefully at the drink, it was a sunny, almost orange yellow. Not surprising considering the man had put an egg yoke in it. Shaking his head Hiruma took a sip and his eyes popped open.

"What the hell?" Hiruma muttered, the drink having caught his attention with the sweetness of it.

"An 'Eye Opener', sir." The bartender bowed. "It's a known revival drink."

"…I see." Hiruma muttered and drank some more.

"It might help you talked about it." One of the other bartenders suggested shyly.

"And to what end?" Hiruma asked. "My life gets shattered into fucking pieces every time I manage to put it back to-fucking-gether. God fucking hates me."

"…Is that why Devils never ask Gods for favors?" A low, gruff voice asked from behind Hiruma.

Hiruma knew that voice anywhere; he slowly turned around and laid eyes on the scruffy-looking Musyanokoji Shien, more commonly known as 'Kid'. He still dressed like he was in some old western movie, this time as a gentleman as opposed to a gunman. Without any prompting, Musyanokoji took a seat next to Hiruma.

"Whiskey." Musyanokoji ordered.

"…Fucking eyelashes told you to show up." Hiruma observed.

"Actually I visit this bar at around this time everyday." Musyanokoji corrected casually.

"Kid-sama has been a very loyal customer." The eldest of the bartenders remarked as he poured the whiskey.

"It's not that I didn't get a call from Marco-sama," Musyanokoji added thoughtfully, "but I was still going to come here whether or not I was going to encounter someone I used to know."

"Tch." Hiruma clicked his tongue and had another sip.

"Now your little announcement earlier got me all curious; how did you manage to shatter your life multiple times?" Musyanokoji asked. "I wouldn't have pegged you as the type to have life shattering problems, 'cause you're so clever."

"…My mother got hit buy a fucking drunk right after she had a fight with the fucking bastard." Hiruma swirled his drink a little. "If that's not life shattering, your fucking definition is broken."

"No, no, that is life shattering, especially if you were little." Musyanokoji held up his hands in surrender since Hiruma had sounded irritated.

"Then I got fucking married." Hiruma muttered, fingering his ring a little self-consciously.

"…There a reason I wasn't invited?" Musyanokoji frowned. He had thought that Hiruma had been enough a friend to have given him an invitation, if not a position as a best man.

"Didn't invite anyone," Hiruma took another drink, "fucking arranged marriage. Me and fucking Chizue were just using one another."

"Ah." Musyanokoji nodded. Though, he was curious how Hiruma landed himself into an arranged marriage in the first place.

"Fucking Chizue was mental." Hiruma added. "Then she managed to get pregnant with a fucking 0.72 percent chance of conception."

"Not too surprising," Musyanokoji remarked, "you win football games by smaller margins regularly."

"Tch." Hiruma didn't need to be reminded of that.

"How'd the wife die?" Musyanokoji decided he should ask that question.

"Childbirth." Hiruma answered.

"And when did you choose to disappear in all this?" Musyanokoji wondered as he looked at Hiruma. The man looked tired, more tired than someone his age should look.

"When Emiko was born," Hiruma looked at his drink with a regretful expression, "Chizue didn't want Emiko caught up in all my shit, so I hid her away."

"That doesn't sound healthy." Musyanokoji frowned.

"Wasn't." Hiruma added. "And my fucking mother-in-law decided to take Emiko from me and I just fucked up my shot at getting her back."

"…Would you like another drink sir?" The first bartender asked.

"No." Hiruma frowned. "Being drunk never fucking helps like it should."

"If you say so sir." The bartender retreated.

"It's not like you to be so defeated like this." Musyanokoji was sad, seeing how destroyed Hiruma was.

"Well I fucking changed!" Hiruma snapped. "I fucking changed and am paying for it…!"

"But how much have you really changed?" Musyanokoji asked. "You still hate losing, you still are fiercely protective of those you love, and you still never do anything in moderation."

"Fuck you." Hiruma glared, not wanting to hear those words.

"I'm not going to leave just because you're here to yell at me." Musyanokoji pointed out as he took another sip. "Bartender, get him something that'll re-inspire him."

"I'm not going to have another fucking drink!" Hiruma growled.

"Then I will make one without alcohol." The bartender assured Hiruma, shutting him up. Hiruma and Musyanokoji watched as the bartender pulled out lemon juice, orange juice, and pineapple juice. He poured them into a shaker and shook the juices up.

"Juice?" Musyanokoji asked as the bartender pushed the finished glass towards Hiruma.

"No, a Cinderella," the bartender corrected, "it sounded like the old Devil Magician could use a little transformation magic."

Hiruma snorted but took the drink anyways.

"W-wait, _you're_ the Hiruma Youichi!?" The other two bartenders gasped.

"And why do you fucking care?" Hiruma asked them back. "It's not like I fucking play anymore."

"Then why is your right hand still calloused?" The first bartender asked. With an inaudible, startled gasp, Hiruma looked at his right hand carefully. Emiko adored playing catch with him, so he still practiced his spirals. For her.

"…My daughter loves to play with me," Hiruma admitted as he ran his left hand over the calluses, "we pass it back and forth for hours at the park…. Not real football, but still…."

"Here." Musyanokoji pulled out a football from his bag. "Toss me one."

Hiruma looked at the ball for a long moment and recalled all of his memories surrounding footballs. There were some painful memories, yes, but most of them he enjoyed. Especially the ones with Emiko's smiling face.

"Fuck." Hiruma muttered, looking away from the ball and taking a sip of his drink. "Just- fuck. Fuck it all."

"You know," Musyanokoji began, "I think it's okay to be picking up pieces of your life sometimes."

"…The hell?" Hiruma muttered.

"Because when you put things back together, you can mix them up the way you've always wanted to and make everything better." Musyanokoji pointed out. "Not that picking up your life again is easy but…."

"'That's what comrades are for.'" Hiruma quoted himself. Something he had said several years back, when shit was going down in Musyanokoji's life and he had helped out.

"…Yes." Musyanokoji nodded. "That's what we are for."

Hiruma didn't say anything, he just stared at his glass, frowning. Even if you had help, sometimes the damage was just beyond repair. That was something watching Takekura's father fade away in a hospital bed reminded Hiruma all too well.

Wait father?

Takekura's father wasting away in a hospital bed, that itself had almost destroyed Takekura's life. He dropped out of school, out of football, worked his ass off for that ill man's sake. How Takekura couldn't really go to college properly like the rest of them because of the burdens his father left behind….

And here Hiruma was proposing to put the same kind of sad, heavy burdens on Emiko…. Surely he was a stronger man than this!

"…Here." Hiruma handed the bartender the monkey for the drinks.

"…Where are you going?" Musyanokoji asked, frowning.

"To get some help." Hiruma answered cryptically and left the bar.

"We did it," Musyanokoji told the bartender, "we managed to restore that sparkle in his eyes."

"No, the spirits did." The bartender corrected Musyanokoji.

"…Get me another whiskey."

_=_=_=_=_

Bars are places in which lost souls seek comfort and light, no surprise Hiruma found himself again in one. Tell me what you think.


	30. 27: I Don't Care

Author's Note: Another update. See, I can do it!

Song: I Don't Care is by Fall Out Boy, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 27: I Don't Care

Seeing Chizue was probably a psychological issue caused from the stresses of the mental damage she had wantonly inflicted on Hiruma in the few months he had gotten to really know her just before her death. Since Hiruma was definitely not going to trust his psyche and personal problems to a psychiatrist he didn't know, he thought instead about going and seeing a physician who did know the back story for some advice. This meant there was only one real candidate: Masaki Atsushi, Hiruma's current general practitioner and the practitioner for the entire Saburo family.

Arriving at the hospital, Hiruma took in the building's general state. It wasn't full of busy people puttering about almost panicking like usual. In fact, everyone was going slow and relaxed; it made Hiruma wonder if there was some marijuana was being used in the ventilation system. He exchanged a few words with the receptionist and waited, busying himself with reading one of the tacky gossip magazines while he waited for his name to be called.

Right when Hiruma decided he should burn the fucking magazine for rotting his brain, they called his name, sparing the magazine its long-needed removal from the face of this planet. He stuck his hands in his pockets and followed the fat nurse into the back rooms, stopping before the typical examination room door and being directed inside. Hiruma sat down on the bench and waited.

Thankfully Masaki was a prompt man. He came into the room a minute later and took a seat in his chair and looked at Hiruma curiously.

"It's not like you to need a walk-in appointment," Masaki observed, "what exactly is bothering you?"

When it came time to tell the doctor what was actually wrong Hiruma hesitated. Admitting weakness was never easy for Hiruma, especially this one.

"…I had a really vivid nightmare last night." Hiruma explained.

"I don't think I'm the person you should be talking to about nightmares." Masaki frowned but his black eyes glittered slightly.

"Ch-chizue." Hiruma admitted. "Chizue was raping me."

_Finalizing your defeat?_ Chizue's voice whispered in his ear.

"Oh." Masaki looked a little confused, but nodded anyways.

"And Emiko died." Hiruma finished.

_You killed her._ Images from the dream accompanied the words this time.

"I'm still not exactly the right kind of doctor for this." Masaki reminded Hiruma again. "Besides don't we all have bad dreams?"

"…I don't know anyone who spends all of the next day after having a bad dream seeing and hearing the subject of the dream over reality." Hiruma gave Masaki an annoyed look.

"Seeing?" Masaki paused. "You think you're hallucinating?"

"Not think, am." Hiruma corrected.

_So you are crazy in your head…._

"Right now." Hiruma almost growled. "She's mocking me."

"…Ah and you obviously want some relief for that." Masaki nodded in understanding and wrote a few things down.

"I want her to stay dead." Hiruma corrected.

_You use my existence to the best of your ability then wish for my permanent death?_

"Well I think there's something I can give you to help with that," Masaki announced with a happy smile and glittering eyes.

"Really?" Hiruma studied Masaki carefully. The man had been claiming he was the wrong doctor to talk to and was now clearly writing a prescription for medication.

"Here. This should help." Masaki handed Hiruma a prescription notice. Hiruma nodded, thanked the doctor and left. As he walked back to his car, Hiruma frowned. He know a bit about medical chemicals and he knew a lot about mind-altering pleasure drugs (it was something one learned the blackmail business). Since he was recognizing a decent bit of the components of his prescription to have mind-altering effects….

For once, Hiruma wasn't going to get that prescription filled.

Masaki, on the other hand, got on the phone.

"Saburo-sama, I believe your son-in-law might have a chemical addiction. LSD, by the looks of it." Masaki explained worriedly to Saburo. "He told me he's been hallucinating."

Lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide, a form of LSD, was something both Hiruma and Masaki recognized in the prescription notice that Hiruma now had in his possession.

**-Some undisclosed location, the next day-**

Taking care of that waste of flesh called Taiki Watari had been easy. The man had so many medical issues it wasn't even funny. All Kongo had to do was go inside the room glare at the man and he had enough of a heart attack that he'd be more than just hallucinating for the rest of his days.

So all that was left to do was to look at _that_ trash's in-laws and daughter. Kongo was told to bring his brother, the cop, with him, but he decided that his twin was not needed for this first venture. Currently he was dressing in his most discrete, civianesque clothes. Kongo had removed the dreadlocks and grew in a snappy business cut. He still wore those wrap-arounds he had used in high school, and today was no exception. He'd take the sunglasses off later, but for now they were on.

"Daddy?" A small girl's voice called from another room in the safe house. Kongo stopped and waited, knowing the owner of the voice would appear shortly. And surely enough a little girl with enormous boxy glasses and brown hair that was messy at the best of times. She walked across the foyer and wrapped her arms around Kongo's legs, being too short to get them around his waist.

Kongo only spared the child a kind smile and ruffled her hair.

"Zomi, I have work to do." Kongo reminded the girl. She didn't let go.

"Nozomi!" Another voice cried, this one belonging to a female.

"Natsumi." Kongo greeted the other woman.

"Nozomi, if your father has work, he has work." Sakamoto Natsumi reminded her daughter.

"Okay." Nozomi admitted with a nod and let go. She walked over to her mother's side and looked up at her big, strong father. Kongo nodded to both girls, slipped on his shoes and was about to leave.

"…Daddy?" Nozomi asked, halting her father, "Hiru-chan can come over and play soon, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Kongo assured his daughter with a smile then dashed out on his way. He got in his car and drove a very specific route away from his safe house and into the city. It did not take him long to get within walking distance of the Saburo household. He parked got out and went and had a look around.

Kongo's first impression of the Saburo family was Emiko's screaming. It was loud and pained. The closer he got to the house the louder not only Emiko's cries were, but Saburo's yelling became heard underneath it all.

Kongo looked around and decided the neighbors had issues if they hadn't called the cops for this already. After a moment's decision, Kongo leapt over the fence and had a look around the property. There was a large tree in the back which gave him a good view of the inside of the bedroom on the second floor. If those dolls were anything to go by, that room belonged to Emiko.

The first floor of the house had the typical living, kitchen (where the screaming was coming from), dinning room, and master bedroom. Peeking in the window there showed him an image of the bedridden and extremely ill Saburo Teru. Kongo had recalled the man while he had been well and shook his head. Somethings were just sad.

Kneeling down in one of the bushes, Kongo pulled his surveillance equipment out of his bag and started to bug the house. It wasn't hard actually. Saburo Teru was too sick to really be aware of the world, Saburo Haruka was too busy screaming at her granddaughter, and the granddaughter was too busy crying. Once the equipment was in place and working, Kongo nodded to himself and left.

Well that's what he was going to do when he heard violent banging against a window. Kongo was currently standing in the front yard, and little Emiko had managed to get away from her grandmother's grip long enough to run into the living room and start banging on the window, screaming.

Kongo simply stared at the little girl, her pointy ears and black hair. Those big brown eyes full of tears. Unmistakably the daughter of Hiruma Youichi and she was unmistakably begging for help.

But what did Kongo owe _that_ trash's daughter? Nothing really. He was just using the girl to get back in touch with _that_ trash. No more, no less.

So Kongo turned his back and left Emiko there, screaming, pounding and alone.

_=_=_=_=_

What do you think of this doctor? And Agon in this chapter?


	31. 28: Wonderwall

Author's Note: This one wasn't coming. Thankfully I get off school next week. So the updates will be a little quicker.

Song: Wonderwall is by Oasis, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 28: Wonderwall

Shoving the prescription slip into his pocket, Hiruma sat down in his car and stared ahead for a bit. It was one o' clock now, Emiko will be with his father….

That meant that Anezaki should be free about now. Hiruma looked at his cell phone for a moment. Of everyone he knew over the course of his life, Anezaki had always understood him best. When he was younger he hated it, but as he grew older he had found it a salvation. He knew Chizue would have been upset to hear Hiruma was running to Anezaki with his emotional problems, but honestly, a woman unstable like herself wasn't going to be of any help.

_Why don't you trust me?_ Chizue demanded as Hiruma listened to the ringer. He ignored her.

_"Hello?"_ Anezaki asked. _"Hiruma-kun?"_

"We need to talk," Hiruma told her, "in person."

_"…Why don't you come over to my place?"_ Anezaki requested.

"I'm on my way then." Hiruma hung up and began his short drive. Thankfully there was actually a place to park on the curb right by Anezaki's home because he wasn't in a mood to be walking for long. Anezaki seemed to understand this and opened her door right as he came up the walkway. Wordlessly the two ventured into the kitchen and sat down.

"…What was that thing with work?" Anezaki asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"There was an issue with the apartment," Hiruma admitted truthfully, "company housing."

"Ah," Anezaki nodded, "and it's all resolved now, right?"

"Yeah." Hiruma nodded, feeling tired. It hadn't gotten resolved the way he had intended. Anezaki could see this, but she chose to say nothing. If you pried too much with Hiruma he'd simply shut you out.

"I'll make coffee-" Anezaki announced as she stood up. She was cut off by Hiruma lifting his hand.

"Don't-!" Hiruma cut himself on to motion her to return to her seat, "-not for this." He was shaking slightly and hoping desperately she wouldn't run from him when she saw these scars.

Nodding slightly, Anezaki sat back down and tried not to pity Hiruma. He looked broken and lost, it scared her.

"My marriage," Hiruma decided he'd start at the very beginning, "was arranged by my father and Chizue's father."

Anezaki said nothing but nodded. She listened quietly as Hiruma explained why he and Chizue agreed to it and their one condition.

"-no kids. We didn't fucking love each other or anything, I didn't want my kid to grow up in a fucked up household like that." Hiruma admitted. "Since we didn't even fucking know each other, we lived separately and hid it from everyone else."

"You did an excellent job." Anezaki remarked dryly. "But how did Emiko-?"

"I'm fucking getting there." Hiruma glared, annoyed. "I had a fucking hormone spike that got pretty damn bad. Fucking wet dreams every night for a month."

Anezaki nodded with a slight blush. She couldn't help but to imagine Hiruma with hormone issues and the image was either hilarious or extremely sexy.

"It was only a matter of time before fucking Chizue noticed- she was extremely observant," Hiruma reminisced, "so one morning she saw me there with my fucking problem and offered to help by fucking.

"The only reason I agreed to that was because nothing else had been working." Hiruma clarified his actions. "…There was a 0.004 percent chance of conception."

Anezaki's eyebrows shot up. She didn't know anyone who got pregnant with those chances….

"I come home one day, Chizue's there and telling me she's fucking pregnant." Hiruma rubbed his temples at the memory. "I wanted to get a fucking abortion, it would have been clean and simple but Chizue wanted to have Emiko…."

Hiruma left his guilt over that previous opinion hang unspoken in the air. That particular fact was really bothering him, Anezaki could tell.

"We were going to put Emiko up for adoption once she was born so that she wouldn't grow up in our fucked up house." Hiruma finished.

"And you changed your plans when Chizue died." Anezaki finished. There was a long silence while Hiruma gathered up courage to say his next point.

"…I really got to meet Chizue while she was pregnant," Hiruma's face was blank with numbness, "and she was fucking mental." That was the largest understatement of the century.

And suddenly things started coming together for Anezaki. Hiruma's extreme fear, his over-protectiveness of his daughter, why he clung to Emiko so much…. These were the results of the damage Chizue had done to his brilliant mind during her pregnancy.

"What did she do to you?" Anezaki asked as she forced herself to stay calm.

Opening his mouth resulted in only that; words were not coming to Hiruma at this time. Chizue was standing behind Anezaki, her eyes flashing dangerously. He tired to look away, back to Anezaki, and it was hard.

"…Forced her way into my bed." Hiruma said after a long silence.

Hiruma had been right to not have the coffee cups present, Anezaki would have probably broken them at that bit of news.

"She did other things too." It wasn't a question, it was an observation. Hiruma nodded mutely.

"Last night," Hiruma decided he'd explain it, "she did it again to me last night."

"Hiruma-kun-!" Anezaki gasped slightly. That explained his strange attitude all morning.

"I'm fucking seeing her too," Hiruma glared at Chizue's image, "she's not going away."

Knowing Hiruma, Anezaki knew he wasn't one to normally admit he had that kind of problem. He wasn't one to admit he'd fucked himself up. But Emiko, she had changed so many things about him, she brought out a side of Hiruma that just took Anezaki's breath away. So saying a silent thank you to his daughter, Anezaki crossed the room and hugged Hiruma.

"…I don't know how to make her go away but," Anezaki confessed, "I'm not going to let you break."

Hiruma was not sure whether or not he was consciously or unconsciously relaxing into Anezaki's embrace, but he didn't really fucking care. Anezaki was warm and comforting, like his mother had been. …How long had it been since he'd been hugged like this?

Running her hands through his hair, Anezaki began to rock slightly on her feet. Even adults liked being rocked as though they were children. Despite Chizue's glare and yelling, Hiruma was more than able to tune it out. He was warm and he felt _safe_, something he had difficulty feeling even with Emiko in his life.

_Traitor!_ Chizue screamed. _I was your wife!!_

_'But the vow was 'until death do us part' and you're dead.'_ Hiruma thought back at her, annoyed. Chizue simply gasped and stared at him.

_'Emiko wants me happy and she wants Mamori as her _Mom,_ who am I to deny her a _Mom?' Hiruma continued. _'If anything you're the one that's hurting Emiko with your selfishness.'_

Anezaki planted a kiss on his forehead, filling Hiruma with giddy warmth. He lazily glanced over at Chizue and jerked slightly when he realized that Chizue had faded a bit.

"Hiru-?" Anezaki stopped when he raised his hand up asking her for silence. He was continuing to look at the some ghost only he could see and it was disconcerting to Anezaki. But she held her tongue and waited.

Hiruma wondered faintly what was the causing of this warmth, considering it was not something he had felt in a long, long while. He looked at Anezaki's face, her motherly concern he always secretly liked…. Perhaps that was it, the silly little crush of his youth coming back to haunt him. Not that he minded, Anezaki was a wonderful person, a stable person.

Something Hiruma had been wanting desperately for years.

"Shut up, okay?" Hiruma asked her. He wasn't hostile about it, in fact he was rather gentile sounding. Anezaki wasn't sure what do say to that, so she complied and said nothing. Hiruma pulled himself up so that he was now standing loosely in her arms. He looked down at her with a kind expression that made Anezaki gasp silently.

Anezaki had gotten kisses before, but not any from someone like Hiruma. He wasn't quick about his kissing, rather he was slow and intentional, trying to make her as happy as possible. Her lips moved back against his without thought, trying to create a gentle warming friction between them. Anezaki was amazed, Hiruma kept himself smooth and had lips that weren't soft, but not hard ether. She didn't mind that he had pulled her close and was running his hand through her hair.

But there was part of Anezaki that was worried. What was someone who had been so abused from his pervious relationship seeking when he kissed her? Was that why he was being so careful?

Pulling back, Hiruma's face proved to be somewhat unreadable. He glanced to his side where Chizue used to be. She was gone and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Hiruma?" Anezaki had to break the silence, she had to know why.

"…You made her go away." Hiruma told Anezaki almost breathlessly.

"Go away?" Anezaki muttered, then regretted her words when Hiruma flinched.

"I know, I'm really fucked up, aren't I?" Hiruma let out a humorless laugh and backed away. How he had managed to get a rejection from her words was beyond Anezaki, but she huffed and grabbed his wrist before he got too far.

"But you're a beautiful fucked up man," Anezaki reminded him, "that I feel hopelessly in love with again."

"Mamori?" Hiruma blinked and stared at her. She hadn't been really that responsive to kissing and her words were confused and hesitant sounding. But what happened just now, from her eyes to her tone, was sincere.

"Yes, I'm in love with you, okay?" Anezaki admitted, blushing and tearing up just a little bit.

"Tch." Hiruma managed a smile. "I thought only Emiko loved me after all the shit I've done."

"I don't care that you're a widower, single parent, and have loads of emotional baggage from your pervious marriage." Anezaki was firm. "So stop worrying about that and kiss me again."

With an honest smile, Hiruma took a step forward, back into Anezaki's open arms and kissed her again. She tasted sweet and she felt warm. They moved against one another, heart beats soaring, while they tried to create a special warmth for just the two of them.

Pulling back from Anezaki's insistent mouth, Hiruma took in a large gulp of air. She only smiled at him and pulled herself closer, nuzzling his chest slightly.

"Thank you." Hiruma muttered as he placed a kiss on her hair.

"Thank Emiko," Anezaki corrected, "she's the one that brought us back together."

"What?" Hiruma hadn't been expecting that.

"I wouldn't have found you if it hadn't been for her." Anezaki explained. "And she's the reason I realized I feel in love with you again."

"…Same here," Hiruma blushed a little, "what the hell did I do to deserve the two of you?"

"Does it matter?" Anezaki pointed out.

"I suppose not." Hiruma consented. With a smile, Anezaki pulled him down into a kiss again. He was still careful with his kisses, but something had changed. Something very simple really and it made everything even sweeter.

Hiruma was smiling.

_=_=_=_=_

There you have it a confession of everything that happened and kissing!


	32. 29: Home

Author's Note: And here's another chapter to celebrate the end of term!

Song: Home is by Melanie Chisholm, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 29: Home

"Now stay here with Enri-san and be a good girl, Emiko." Saburo instructed her granddaughter as she made moves to leave.

"But Grandma-!" Emiko protested.

"-You should listen to your grandmother." Enri, a tall man with a burly beard and sunglasses, told Emiko firmly. Emiko didn't like the man, he smelled funny. Instead the little girl looked at her grandmother, confused.

"But Kakei-sama said-" Emiko tried again only to be glared at.

"You are staying here and that is final!" Saburo yelled at Emiko, making the girl cringe and sniffle. It was hard to be strong when people pushed mean, hurtful things on Emiko. Saburo turned to Enri, bowed once, then left.

"Looks like it's just you and me, brat." Enri observed. "I'm going to watch my game and you are going to sit with me and watch it too, got that?"

"…Football game?" Emiko asked quietly.

"Er, yeah." Enri admitted. Looks like this was going to be an easy job if all he had to do was watch a football game with the brat.

Emiko started to walk, going in the wrong direction entirely for the sofa.

"Where are you going!?" Enri demanded loudly.

"B-bathroom!" Emiko squeaked. She didn't like the loud noise.

"Oh, uh, go then. I'll turn on the TV. Yeah." Enri turned away blushing. Emiko only shot him a confused look then made her way to the bathroom. She quickly took care of business and was leaving when she saw the cordless phone sitting there.

Emiko knew that her Grandma had just left to go to the custody trial. The last time there had been one of those was when the mean men took her away from Papa. So Emiko had thought that this thing would let her go back to Papa. But Emiko was not allowed to go, or at least Grandma didn't think she should even though Kakei-sama said Emiko had to come. And that was a really bad thing.

Papa had told her that she should call 119 if something bad was happening and it was an emergency, only if those two conditions were met. Thinking hard, Emiko decided that this was bad and an emergency, so she called 119.

_"Hello?"_ A lady asked on the other end.

"There are bad things happening," Emiko told the lady, speaking insanely fast, "Grandma is supposed to take me to the custody trail but she's not letting me come I'm at home with Enri-san and I don't know him and its really, really bad."

_"Pardon?"_ The lady asked, having gotten none of that.

"I have to go to the custody trial." Emiko said, still speaking super fast. "Help!"

_"I'm sending a police officer to visit your residence."_ The lady explained. _"Please stay calm and wait patiently, ma'am."_

"Okay!" Emiko smiled and hung up. She walked back into the living room and sat down to watch the football game with Enri.

"Takekura Babies versus Saburo Witches?" Emiko frowned. Papa didn't really follow the X-League games, so Emiko didn't either. The poor girl was now a little bit confused, her Grandma's company had a football team that she didn't know about. And they were playing Papa's old team. Who should she cheer for?

"Get those Babies, Witches!" Enri cried, turning into rabid Witches fan instantly.

It wouldn't be fair if Emiko also cheered for the Witches, Emiko decided, so she'd cheer for the Babies.

"Go Uncle Musashi!" Emiko cried instead, startling Enri with her volume.

"Uncle?" Enri started at the girl. She was Saburo-sama's granddaughter and was, most randomly, related to the infamous kicker for the Babies? This was almost too hard to believe.

"Well he's one of my Papa's bestest friends in the whole world, so I call him 'Uncle'." Emiko explained happily in her usual, too fast manner. "My Papa is going to play for the Babies soon too. He'll be their quaterback."

Enri didn't catch any of that.

**-At the Police Station, a little while ago-**

Officer Kongo Unsui was a very interesting man. His younger twin brother was a yukuza with a bastard child, while he was a police officer, married with no children. This meant he could more easily get compromises with the yukuza and prime information on other violence groups. Though sometimes that meant he could be the only cop in on certain scenes.

Earlier, Kongo Agon, said mentioned yukuza brother, had demanded that a certain Saburo Teru's residence and surrounding area only be patrolled by Unsui. The station found this a particularly odd request, but decided to comply with it. So when they got the notice from 119 dispatch to send an officer down to look at the house, Unsui was called in.

Now Unsui was currently at a café, eating ice cream with his niece and brother.

"Hello?" Unsui asked when his work cell phone rang. Agon shot him an annoyed look, couldn't he have turned that damn thing off?

"Someone called from the Saburo residence?" Unsui blinked, amazed. "I'll be on my way then."

"Saburo?" Nozomi looked at Uncle, a little confused. Saburo was Hiru-chan's grandmother, why would Uncle want to go there? Were they going to play?

"Ah." Agon understood. Unsui quickly pulled out exact change for payment, set it on the table and got up. Nozomi was not thrilled with the idea of leaving her ice cream until she realized she was going to be riding in the police car. That made her very happy because riding in Uncle's car was always a treat.

Agon had his girl buckled into the passenger seat then proceeded to lock himself into the back of the car. Inwardly, Unsui was always slightly amazed by this behavior, considering that Agon spent most of his youth, and adult life, beating the living shit out of others for the sake of his own comfort. But Nozomi would always get comfort over him, because she was her Dad's precious baby. And there wasn't anyone who knew Agon that would dare challenge that, not even his own subordinates.

Breaking away from his musings, Unsui turned around and opened up the little window that let sound through. This was mostly for Agon's comfort as he liked to know what was going on with Nozomi whenever possible. Nozomi was too excited to really care if she could chat with her Dad because she was going to be able to play solitaire while her Uncle drove them around.

"You buckled in back there?" Unsui asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Actually Agon wasn't but Unsui wouldn't press the matter.

After a few seconds of silence, Unsui decided to enjoy a one on one conversation with his brother, something he hadn't had the pleasure of having in a while.

"So, you never did answer me, how did you wind up with Nozomi today?" Unsui asked his brother as he started driving.

"Natsumi is getting knee surgery today." Agon remarked blandly. "So I get Nozomi." He sounded very pleased with this development. Unsui couldn't blame him, Agon didn't get to spend a great deal of time with his daughter to his job as a yakuza. This was mainly for Nozomi's safety as well as giving her an opportunity to grow up fairly normally (and fairly is the word, her mother is an ex-yukuza).

Nozomi was a talented girl. She might not have had the God-speed-impulse like her father, but she was hyper-coordinated and extremely intelligent. She was more than capable of following the adult's conversation while playing solitaire.

"Mom said she was going to be really, really sleepy all day." Nozomi added, as if to explain why she would be with her 'dead' father today. "Why are we going to Hiru-chan's house?"

"Hiru-chan?" Unsui had heard about Nozomi's new friend only once in passing. He was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Hiruma Emiko-chan," Nozomi clarified, "she lives with her grandma right now."

Agon and Unsui were silent at this development. Both knew that Hiruma Youichi had a little girl named Emiko and that she was currently living with her grandmother, Saburo Haruka. Of course this meant that it would be insanely unlikely that Nozomi wasn't correct about their destination.

"Do you know Hiru-chan's father's name?" Agon asked, trying not to growl.

"Her Papa?" Nozomi paused and thought about it. "Hiruma Youichi."

"I-I see…!" Unsui was nervous because his brother was getting rather murderous in the back.

"Are we going to see Hiru-chan?" Nozomi asked, getting a little more excited.

"Probably." Unsui answered as he pulled over and parked the car. He got out, got Nozomi out, then let Agon out (this was of course the preferred order of exiting the car by Agon standards). Agon simply took a deep breath and picked up Nozomi so that he wouldn't be tempted to grab a gun or knife. Unsui shook his head and pushed past the small gate and knocked on the door.

Enri went up to get the door and had Emiko follow him. It would be easier to keep track of the kid if she was in sight.

"Hell-!?" Enri gasped when he found Boss and Brother at the door. And they had Nozomi-sama.

"That's a bad word!" Emiko protested, upset. She turned and looked at the newcomers. "Saka-chan!"

"Hiru-chan!" Nozomi smiled at her friend. Emiko smiled back.

"Did Grandma ask you to play with me?" Emiko asked, innocently. She was rocking back and forth on her heels.

Unsui coughed interrupting the girls' conversation. "We got a call a 119 call from this house, is there a reason?"

"Huh?" Enri asked. "I didn't call-"

"It's bad!" Emiko cut him off, her rocking getting a lot faster and her arms starting to flap. "Kakei-sama said I was supposed to go to the custody trial today but Grandma had me stay here and I really want to go back to Papa so I should be there but I am here and that's not really a good thing and Enri-san smells funny and I don't like that smell but he is being nice and letting me watch a football game." One breath, really fast.

"Ah, Hiru-chan, slow down!" Nozomi wiggled out of her father's grip and clapped her hands in front of Emiko's face. The other girl seemed to calm down a little and stop flapping and rocking as fast.

"Custody trial?" Unsui and Agon looked at one another.

"Yeah, Grandma's making me stay here but Kakei-sama said I had to go." Emiko explained.

"I'm here to take you to the custody trial." Unsui announced.

"But what about-?" Enri was cut off by Boss.

"You're sitting in the back with me." Agon's voice was deadly.

"Y-yes, sir!" Enri squeaked.

"Wow, a police car!" Emiko exclaimed as she noticed it.

"My Uncle Unsui is a police officer." Nozomi explained. "Oh, Hiru-chan, this is my Dad." Nozomi introduced Emiko to her father.

"But you said your Papa was dead." Emiko was really confused. This showed by increased rocking.

"I'm supposed to say that." Nozomi explained. "Dunno why, but he told me to tell people that."

"That's enough Nozomi." Agon told his daughter. If Emiko was anything like her father, she'd ask a ton of awkward questions. And Agon was not in the mood to explain to either six year old that he was a wanted yukuza and he pretended to be dead to Nozomi so that she wouldn't be caught up in all of those gang fights and territory battles.

"…Why were you in the yard?" Emiko asked Agon. "You were in the yard and you didn't help." Her hands were flapping a little again.

"I was getting my Frisbee from the bushes." Agon lied smoothly. "I didn't know you were Nozomi's friend, so I didn't try to get you out."

"Oh, okay." Emiko decided that was an expectable answer. Agon blinked once. Was _that_ trash's daughter really this gullible?

They all piled in the police car and after a little bit of typing on the laptop, Unsui drove them to the place the custody trial was being held at. During this time Emiko was explaining to Nozomi how she'd been watching a football game with Enri-san. And how she was really confused because Grandma hated football but Grandma's company had a team.

"Didn't you play?" Emiko asked Unsui and Agon at the end of her explanation. "The Nagas, numbers 2 and 12, right?"

"…Yes." Unsui answered. It didn't surprise him that Hiruma's daughter knew her football inside and out. But he was being troubled by Emiko's odd behavior; most children don't rock like that!

"Saka-chan, why aren't you Kongo-chan?" Emiko asked her friend.

"My parents aren't married." Nozomi answered, finding that subject rather awkward.

"Oh, okay." Emiko accepted the answer easily.

"We're here." Unsui announced as he parked.

"This isn't the right building." Emiko muttered. This was a different building than last time.

"I'm sure it's the right one," Unsui told Emiko, "now let's go."

Unsui carried Emiko and Agon carried Nozomi while Enri followed like a dog with his tail between his legs. With little difficultly and a few flashings of his badge, Unsui got them past the reception desk and into the hallway outside of the courtroom. There were a few security men outside the doors of the room that were very intent on not letting them inside.

Agon decided that 'nice, correct' persuasion wasn't working and pulled out a knife and just gave them one of his psychotic grins. The guards decided to have a change of heart and let them right on inside.

Hiruma was at the stand and couldn't help but to observe the procession walk down the main isle of the courtroom. The Kongo brothers carrying children, one of which was his, and a third guy that looked like he was about to be kicked in the balls, it wasn't a common sight.

"Papa!" Emiko cried, sounding relieved more than anything else.

"Can I go down and get her?" Hiruma asked the judge.

"Yes." The judge nodded. Hiruma simply put his hand on the rail and jumped out over the stand, landing expertly on the ground. He jogged up the isle and took his squirming daughter from Unsui.

There wasn't a single person in the room that wasn't touched by the reunion of father and daughter. Emiko burst into tears, partly in happiness, partly because she felt safe enough to do so. Hiruma looked like he'd been stressed and now was completely relaxed.

Saburo was sitting there wide-eyed looking somewhere between mortified and betrayed. She knew it hadn't been Enri that got Emiko here at the trial, Emiko had managed that on her own. And then she had the nerve to break into tears in her _father's_ arms. What the hell did that man know anyways? Emiko briefly looked up from her Papa's chest and met eyes with Saburo.

Emiko had no regrets. She was exactly where she wanted to be. And she hoped, sincerely, that Grandma would understand that.

"…We need to talk." Agon broke the silence with a glare at Hiruma.

"Later." Hiruma told Agon as he turned around and walked down the isle. It'd be a bit before Emiko calmed down. The judged seemed to understand this.

"Kakei Shun." The judge called. Kakei stood up and proceeded to walk up into the stand.

And with that, the custody trial began to move into full swing.

_=_=_=_=_

For those who haven't guessed, this song title is about Emiko's feelings.


	33. 30: All About Us

Author's Note: Hey, yeah, I updated holy crap.

Song: All About Us is by t.A.T.u., I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 30: All About Us

Before Emiko's sudden arrival in the court room, both Maruko and Inu Watari (Saburo's lawyer) had come up and presented their cases. Saburo's case centered around Emiko's funny behaviors and how those had to have been caused by Hiruma's inability to raise a child. Hiruma's case, on the other hand, centered around how Emiko's behaviors were due to her having Asperger's Syndrome and the fact Saburo doesn't recognize this makes her unfit to be a parent. Maruko had also brought up the alarming changes in Emiko's mood. Inu had explained that those were because Emiko wasn't feeling well and was currently not at the hearing because of her illness. He had then called Hiruma to stand.

But everything went wrong when the Kongos came marching down the isle with Emiko. Not only was Emiko well, but she was clearly extremely happy to be with Hiruma.

Maruko had taken this time to have Kakei called to stand. Kakei was now explaining, as an expert on the subject, the kind of behaviors they look for in a child with high functioning autism. Which almost completely corresponded to the behaviors that struck Saburo as 'odd' and 'Hiruma's fault'.

"Papa?" Emiko decided to get her Papa's attention. She had gotten pretty bored while Kakei-san and Inu-sama and Maruko-sama were talking and trying to argue but not really doing a good job of it. It was good they weren't yelling, yelling always hurts and makes Emiko twist up funny inside.

"Yes?" Hiruma looked down at his little girl. Papa had really, really focused on the almost arguing the men were doing down on the big floor, like he did when a game got really close in the last few minutes. Emiko felt a little bad distracting him.

"We're going home after this?" Emiko asked. Going back to Grandma's wasn't going to be fun for Emiko. And she was tired of being told she had to wait to back home with Papa. Why did she have to wait? It was dumb.

"Of course." Hiruma answered, ruffling Emiko's hair a little. He was confident they were going to win, especially since Saburo's blatant lie about Emiko being sick had been exposed.

Emiko glanced back down at the really badly done arguing. Why were they just dancing around with their words? Wasn't easiest if you just said things once and directly? And why were they talking like this? Emiko was going home with Papa, so wasn't the point moot now?

"How do I know you are not lying to me, Kakei-shi?" Inu demanded. "Hiruma-shi is an infamous blackmailer; I can't say that it is safe to completely trust in your testimony."

Emiko hadn't really been paying attention to that, she'd been trying to wave to Saka-chan in the audience, when Papa suddenly tightened his grip on her. Confused Emiko tried to squirm herself a little more lose, only to have Papa clamp down on her harder. She looked up at Papa's face. He was very stiff and his mouth was shut really tightly.

"And what proof do you have of this?" Maruko asked. His face changed, Emiko wasn't sure why, but his face changed.

"I have a personal testament here from Taiki Watari," Inu held up a sheet of paper, "saying that quote 'his employee shot at him with a gun then threatened his life' unquote. I understand that there is no open evidence of Hiruma-shi threatening Kakei-shi, but I can't have complete faith in anything that is said since it is clear that Hiruma-shi is capable of manipulating others."

"Papa!?" Emiko whispered. Papa had stopped breathing, that wasn't good!

"What!?" Takekura yelled as he stood up suddenly, slamming his hands on the table. Emiko put her hands on her ears to block out the noise. This room had gone from boring to scary!

"Order!" The judge demanded, smacking his gravel down sharply. The loud noise startled Emiko. She wanted to relax and rock a little, but Papa's grip was too tight and if she couldn't rock all this hurtful yelling was going to stay in her head and that was bad!

"Ahhh!" Emiko screamed loudly as she started to thrash desperately in Hiruma's arms.

Hiruma himself went wide eyed and paled when he realized that Emiko was panicking in his arms. Looking down he carefully eased his death grip. He couldn't let go of her because she'd fall and he didn't dare let her visibly trash there because that wasn't going to help matters.

Everyone in the courtroom was staring at Emiko. She wasn't screaming anymore but her face was scrunched up in pain and she looked really uncomfortable.

"…Your honor, I think your gavel just over-stimulated her." Kakei told the judge softly, "I think it would be best for Emiko if she left the court room for a moment to calm down."

The judge could clearly see that girl was distressed and in pain. He turned to the security man beside the podium. "Please go escort that girl outside."

With a nod, the security man walked up to Hiruma and Emiko while the room remained set in an eerie silence.

"Sir, I'm going to escort her from the room. I need you to let go." The guard told Hiruma.

"Emiko?" Hiruma asked his girl. Not cooperating wasn't going to help him right now, but he wasn't going to subject Emiko to something that was going to make things worse for her.

"Papa!" Emiko was visibly relieved. He was breathing again, good thing. She stopped struggling and he relaxed his grip. Now she was rocking back and forth on his lap.

"Would you like to go outside for a minute?" Hiruma asked her.

Emiko looked at Papa for a minute. He was fidgeting funny and there was that strange man near by. Papa wasn't being himself and that was bad.

"No." Emiko answered.

Hiruma simply looked at the guard and shrugged slightly. "She doesn't want it."

The guard looked back at the judge and the other man simply signaled him back into place.

"I call Takekura Gen to stand." Maruko announced before anyone else could say anything. He was determined to salvage this situation and relaying on Takekura's long time friendship to get them out of this trouble.

"I call Hiruma Youichi to stand." Inu snapped, knowing he'd managed to unsettle the man greatly.

Takekura didn't say anything he just got up and started walking to the podium, pausing slightly to put a comforting hand on Hiruma's shoulder. The judge only nodded to the man and gave Inu a bored look. Inu looked away a little sheepishly.

Emiko had managed to calm herself down pretty good now. Rocking felt good.

"Papa, we're going home." Emiko reminded her Papa. "We'll go home together and have dinner with Grandpapa and Anezaki-sensei."

Papa looked down at Emiko and started smiling. A good smile too, you could just see his fangs. His breathing went back to normal too.

"Yeah, we are." Papa agreed and ruffled Emiko's hair. Emiko smiled back.

"-and he got hospitalized for it." Takekura had finished telling his story about the last time he could honestly recall Hiruma threatening anyone. "I don't really think you appreciate this, but he gave up everything for Emiko's sake. He stopped playing football, he stopped associating with anyone that would be a potentially bad influence on her, hell he even stopped working for me so that he could do a from home job!"

Why was Uncle Musashi saying bad words? And why was standing? Was it because it was called a 'stand'?

"Then explain why Taiki-shi submitted this testament." Inu demanded.

"I can do that." Kongo Agon remarked dryly as he walked down the isle and into the middle of the courtroom, startling everyone. He took off his glasses and ran his hand through his hair, which made it slick back, instead of down. Right now he very much resembled is face on the wanted ads.

"You're-!" Inu gasped.

"Yeah, I'm the motherfucker that fucked that Taiki guy up real nice." Kongo confessed. "And I can personally assure you that the only bullets that were fired in that room game out of my gun."

Why did Nozomi's Papa just say bad words? Why was everyone staring at him? Why was Papa acting funny again?

Emiko was confused.

"T-thank you for your confession and testament, Kongo-shi." The judge nodded. His face was shinier than before, Emiko observed, how'd it get like that?

The guard guy that came over and bothered Papa earlier walked up to Saka-chans's Papa and put him in handcuffs. Then the two walked off to the side. Why'd they make him sit in a box by himself? Shouldn't he be with Saka-chan? Why is he and Marco-sama looking at each other?

Takekura came back and sat down next to Papa.

"Sounds like you owe him another favor." Takekura said. Who was him?

Papa kissed the top of Emiko's head again, making her smile.

Anezaki-sensei went and sat down next to judge next. Markuo and Inu were talking to the judge in their really indirect arguing manners again. Something about depression and abuse, Emiko wasn't really paying attention.

"-hadn't been meshing with the class at all. But after she started living with her Grandmother, Emiko-chan stopped _trying-"_ After Anezaki finished saying that Emiko got held a little tighter.

"'M sorry." Hiruma whispered and kissed Emiko's head again. Emiko was only confused by the gesture's timing, but she didn't mind it.

"It's okay, Papa, I forgive you." Emiko smiled. That's what you're supposed to say when someone is sorry. You forgive them.

Hiruma found himself chocking up and trying his hardest not to cry. Emiko was perplexed by this behavior, of course, but a lot of things her Papa did were perplexing.

"She's just something else…." Takekura muttered, a warm smile on his face. Emiko probably didn't understand what Hiruma was apologizing for, but she very readily, and sincerely, forgave him.

"I would like to call my client to stand." Inu announced. A wise choice on his part, considering that Saburo had been under a lot of indirect personal attack with Anezaki's testimony, giving her a chance to speak up for herself while she still had some power in the situation.

Saburo, of course, walked right up to the stand, swore in and waited for the questions to come flying from Maruko's mouth. But to her amazement they did not. This was partly to throw her off balance and partly to be thorough with his choice of words and questions.

"Saburo-shi," Maruko began, "do you love your Granddaughter, Hiruma Emiko?"

No one had been expecting that question, not even Saburo.

"Yes, very much."

"And are you willing to make sacrifices for the sake of Emiko-chan's happiness and future?" Maruko asked Saburo.

"Of course."

"…Then why do you deny that Emiko-chan has a very serious mental disability?" Maruko asked, sounding confused. The rest of the court room got quiet and tense.

"Pardon?" Saburo sounded confused.

"Emiko-chan has Asperger's Syndrome, I have testimonies stating that you were present at the announcement meeting. And I also have testimonies saying that you were very uncooperative with the diagnosing process and were in some denial afterwards. Considering that you are clearly aware of Emiko-chan's abnormal behavior and concerned enough to take custody of her, I am curious why you acted this way." Maruko clarified.

"Youichi started this didn't he?" Saburo remarked, glaring at Hiruma from across the room. "And right after Emiko-chan came to live at my home."

Inu looked at Maruko expectantly.

"He did," Maruko nodded, "and a few days after the custody change."

"It's suspicious." Saburo accused. "I thought he was just being sore and trying to steal Emiko away from my care. Of course I didn't trust those strange men!"

"…Did it not cross your mind that these professionals might be trying to help Emiko?" Maruko asked her.

"I don't trust anyone that _he_ sent!" Saburo yelled, pointing at Hiruma. "He's not trustworthy! He's a lying manipulative-!" Saburo was cut off by someone no one was expecting.

"No!" Emiko yelled loudly, startling the room into silence. She was clearly extremely upset and trying her hardest to hold back tears and choke down sobs.

"Papa isn't a lair…!" Emiko muttered. "Papa is really nice and tries really hard, he even says nice things about Grandma when she was being mean."

Maruko coughed once to break the awkward silence.

"Is that why you continue to distrust the decision about the reason for Emiko's behavior made by Autism Specialists?" Maruko asked.

"Yes." Saburo nodded firmly.

"…Now, Saburo-shi, what exactly has caused you to distrust Hiruma-shi to this extent?" Maruko asked.

"I never trusted him to begin with." Saburo answered flatly. "Not with that reputation of his."

"Saburo-shi, if you never trusted Hiruma-shi, then why did you willingly arrange a marriage between him and your daughter?" Maruko asked.

"Yuuya was the one that pushed the marriage." Saburo answered blandly.

"Lair!" Yuuya cried, standing up suddenly. Emiko put her hands on her ears and whimpered.

"Dad, not so loud." Hiruma told his father firmly and quietly, making the other man sit back down sheepishly.

"I have one last question," Maruko remarked, "if it was true that living with Hiruma-shi was honestly what was best for your Granddaughter, would you accept that?"

"But that isn't the case," Saburo protested, "so does it really matter?"

Maruko called Yuuya up to stand next. The elder Hiruma happily recounted the exact details about the arrangement of the marriage. And between himself and Maruko, the court was presented with all the legal documentation to back up these claims. After Yuuya left the stand, Inu stood up can called Hiruma Youichi to the stand.

"Emiko, can you sit with your Grandpapa while I talk to these people?" Hiruma asked Emiko.

"Can't you talk to them from here?" Emiko asked. She didn't get this whole going up to stand, where you sat down, and talked to them.

"The rules say I have to go to the stand." Hiruma explained. "I won't be long, okay?"

"…Okay." Emiko nodded and then let herself be handed to her Grandpapa.

Hiruma sat down and swore in then waited for Inu to strike.

"Hiruma-shi, I recently received a testimony claiming you are not only being quote 'haunted by images of Chizue' unquote, but that you are also taking LSD." Inu stated with a straight face.

"Who is the person that testified to this?" Maruko demanded.

"That would probably be my doctor, Masaki Atsushi." Hiruma answered for Inu. "And I didn't say I was haunted by images of her, I remarked that I was having very vivid nightmares about her doing horrible things to me."

"What sort of horrible things?" Inu demanded.

"Verbal and sexual abuse." Hiruma remarked with an annoyed look. "And I'm really curious why he claims I'm taking LSD, because I've never done any sort of drug in my life."

"Are you saying that Doctor Masaki is lying?" Inu asked.

"No, I'm saying that he's exaggerating and bending the truth a great deal," Hiruma confessed, "and some extremely large miscommunication is causing the confusion about the LSD."

"What sort of miscommunication?" Inu asked.

"I was a little ashamed to be admitting I was having nightmares," Hiruma admitted, looking somber, "so I was a little vague and unclear about what exactly was wrong. I think he might had been left with the mistaken impression I was hallucinating." Hiruma knew he was stretching the truth probably to the point of breaking, but he didn't care.

"If you were concerned about Emiko having a disability, why didn't you take her to get tested earlier?" Inu demanded.

"At first, I honestly believed Mother was right." Hiruma explained. "I asked her how I could change to fix it and she never gave me an answer. I don't have a lot of experience with children outside of Emiko, so for all I knew children that young acted like that. That's why I decided to wait until Emiko was in school to compare her to other children and confirm if her behavior was abnormal."

"Why didn't you have her checked while she was still living with you?" Inu demanded.

"I was busy dealing with the proceedings for the previous custody trial." Hiruma admitted. "I was going to take her to get tested after it was over."

"And is that why you sent the concerned letter to the school district to have it looked into when you did?" Inu asked.

"Yes."

"Why did you not send that letter to Saburo-shi?" Inu asked.

"I called her and got hung up on repeatedly." Hiruma answered. "I was not under the impression she was willing to listen to me concerning anything at that time, or even now for that matter."

"And then you had this custody case reopened, is that correct?" Inu asked.

"No." Hiruma shook his head. "Kakei-sama appealed and had the case re-examined."

Inu obviously hadn't been expecting that.

"Were you aware of Emiko's so-called depression?" Inu asked.

"It wasn't 'so-called', Inu-sama." Himura glared at Inu. "Emiko was depressed and upset. I didn't find out until after I sent the request to have any potential disabilities looked into."

Inu was starting to have a sense of déjà-vu. This probably had to do with the fact the last time he tried to interrogate Hiruma, he'd had all of his words undone and thrown back in his face. He couldn't find an argument or point that could make that devilish man stumble. After a few more tires he admitted he was out of questions.

Hiruma was then allowed back down, back to where Emiko was squirming impatiently.

"I call Hiruma Emiko to stand." Maruko announced, making everyone stare at him.

Emiko was of course, extremely confused by this. Hiruma looked at Emiko, concerned. Maruko hadn't mentioned doing this…!

"Emiko-chan, you have to go sit next to the judge now." Yuuya told her. "Do you want me to accompany you?"

"Are we going home after I do that?" Emiko asked.

"I think so." Yuuya answered. Emiko nodded and hopped down off his lap. She walked down to the floor, climbed over the little gate, and walked up to her stunned father.

"It's okay Papa, we're going home right after this!" Emiko told him, patting his leg, then walking the rest of the way up to the stand. One of the security guards opened up the gate to show Emiko up to the chair. Emiko, of course, sat down in the chair and as it turned out, her head barely poked over the top of the rail.

Hiruma nervously returned to his seat.

"Emiko-chan, I have a few questions for you, okay?" Maruko spoke kindly and softly to Emiko.

"Okay!" Emiko smiled happily.

Inu and Saburo were quietly talking amongst themselves. What was Maruko trying to do by bringing Emiko to the stand?

"Emiko, who would you rather live with, your Grandmother or your Papa?" Maruko asked.

"Papa." Emiko answered quickly and firmly. "Grandma is nice, but I want to go home and have dinner with Papa, Grandpapa, and Anezaki-sensei."

"Anezaki-sensei?" Maruko asked, mostly out of curiosity.

"Anezaki-sensei's going to be my mom soon!" Emiko announced with a smile.

Hiruma and Anezaki both blushed.

"So when's the wedding?" Takekura asked.

"We're not even fucking dating old man." Hiruma hissed back, still embarrassed.

"Emiko-chan, do you think your Papa is a person that does bad things?" Maruko asked.

"No! Papa doesn't do bad things! He works really, really hard!" Emiko protested. Why were people always asking that?

"I believe you," Maruko assured the girl, "if Inu-sama doesn't have any questions for you, we're done."

Inu did have questions. He came up and looked at the little girl at the stand.

"Emiko-chan, don't you love your Grandma?" Inu asked.

"I do." Emiko was confused.

"Do you want her to be lonely?" Inu asked again, suppressing an evil smirk. It was so easy to manipulate children.

"Grandma is lonely?" Emiko was confused. "But Grandma has lots of friends over and is always telling me to go upstairs and be quiet…."

Hiruma could only smirk at that. Emiko's honesty was probably the most destructive weapons Inu had ever faced.

"If you left her, she'd be sad." Inu asked.

"But Grandma can come and see me if she's sad…." Emiko frowned. "She did that before the mean men came and took me away from Papa."

"Mean men?" Inu blinked.

"Yeah! Really mean! They didn't ask me or nothing!" Emiko ranted. "They didn't ask Papa either! He was really, really sad!"

The judge was trying not to laugh.

"Judge-sama, can I go now?" Emiko asked.

"Yes, yes." Inu waved the girl away. She was more problematic than her father!

Emiko smiled and ran down, climbing over the gates, then running up the stairs to leap into her Papa's arms. She sighed contently, happy to be with Papa. Emiko completely tuned to the closing statements made by Inu and Maruko.

After all of that nonsense was done and over with, the judge made his verdict:

"The custody of Hiruma Emiko will belong to one Hiruma Youichi."

_=_=_=_=_

I started to write this chapter the wrong way, then I realized I wasn't being completely accurate with the court scene, then I had to fix that. On top of that I went to Kumori Con. Yes I know they are excuses, but the chapter is done now! I hope you enjoy it!


	34. 31: Best of What's Around

Author's Note: School hasn't killed me yet! But its going to try very hard!

Song: Best of What's Around is by Dave Matthew's Band, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 31: Best of What's Around

"-hang on a second I have to check on my pie!" Anezaki warned Kobayakawa Suzuna, an old time friend and sort of sister-in-law. They were having their monthly catch-up phone call. Of course, this almost always corresponded to Anezaki's favorite time to bake delicious goods, so she often had to abandon the phone in favor of making sure her treats weren't burning.

Since the pie was, indeed, not burning and progressing well, Anezaki set a timer and returned to the phone.

"Okay, I'm back now." Anezaki assured Kobayakawa while she sat down at the kitchen table. They had been talking about Kobayakawa's friends and now were moving into the topic of Raimon Taru and the family.

_"Well my idiotic brother is finally got a real job,"_ Kobayakawa continued on, _"as a NFL referee."_

"Really?" Anezaki was pleasantly surprised to hear that bit of news. Taki hadn't been able to make it as a player in America, but he was extremely athletic and he knew the sport much better than most.

_"I was worried he'd do something dumb but,"_ Kobayakawa went on, _"he's actually really fair and serious…!"_

"So he likes it?" Anezaki asked as she got up and started to pace a little.

_"Very much."_ Kobayakawa sounded very pleased with this. _"Maybe he'll move out soon!"_ Taki, due to unemployment, had been forced to live at the Kobayakawa household. _"You know how Sena doesn't have the heart to kick him out…."_

"Speaking of Sena, how's he doing?" Anezaki wondered. Kobayakawa Sena was her childhood friend and little brother after all. "I haven't spoken to him since he flew out here."

_"AJ's been driving him up the wall as usual."_ Kobayakawa admitted with a sigh; AJ often drove her up the wall as well. Their son was a bundle of hyper energy and, much like his father, insanely fast on his feet. Despite this AJ was very sweet and meant well, so neither of his parents minded very much.

_"You know, Monta's been a real help with AJ."_ Kobayakawa was babbling a bit. She did that when her son was brought up as a subject in a conversation. Anezaki was used to hearing parents babble about their children, it was very typical behavior in her line of work.

"How's he doing anyways?" Anezaki asked while she remembered Raimon. He was a monkey-like man with a small goatee last she checked. "Does he still have that goatee?" Monta, since he had joined the New England Patriots, had grown a goatee that was remarkably good-looking on him.

_"Oh yes, AJ just loves that thing to death!"_ Kobayakawa exclaimed. _"He keeps trying to make Sena grow one you know."_

"Sena? With a goatee?" Anezaki deadpanned then burst out laughing at the image.

_"That's what he said."_ Kobayakawa was laughing a bit too. _"Well, Monta just got a new girlfriend."_

"Oh that's wonderful, his last one was so horrible!" Anezaki was relieved to hear that bit of news.

_"Yeah, she just happened to be his coach's goddaughter too."_ Kobayakawa went on with a chuckle. _"Sena and Clifford tell me it's a remarkably good match."_

"Is Monta getting along better with the coach?" Anezaki asked a little worry creeping in her tone.

_"Loads, the entire team is relieved."_ Kobayakawa sounded like she shared the sentiment. _"Speaking of teams, how are all the old Bats doing?"_

"Well Juumonji and Kuroki were telling me about some new security plan they're starting at the company soon. Musashi wasn't aware of if when I asked, but Kurita was so it was okay." Anezaki remarked. Juumonji and Kuroki were the heads of security for Takekura Construction Company. Takekura was, of course, company president and Kurita was the head of hiring and advisor to Takekura.

_"What about Toganou?"_ Kobayakawa asked. _"Is he still in advertising?"_

"He went down to half time so that he could try his hand at being a manga-ka." Anezaki answered. Toganou was also in security. "Everyone's been wishing him the best of luck with that."

_"I am too, tell him for me, will ya?"_ Kobayakawa requested.

"Of course!" Anezaki smiled. "Komusubi's still doing on-site work and Yuki-san's psychiatric practice is still going well."

_"That's good to hear."_ Kobayakawa was smiling. She missed all of her old friends from high school, Anezaki could tell.

"Yeah." Anezaki's thoughts strayed to the last of the Devil Bats, Hiruma Youichi. Kobayakawa hadn't been asking about him, despite his return to society and the alarming news of Emiko's existence. It'd been a several months since Kobayakawa Sena had come to Japan last spring. Now it was that time of year between late summer and early fall where the weather couldn't decide what season it was just yet.

_"How's Emi-chan? She's back with her Papa now, right?"_ Kobayakawa asked. It took Anezaki a few seconds to recall who 'Emi-chan' must be.

"Yes, he's got official custody back." Anezaki was recalling the end of the trial with a smile. After the announcement Hiruma and Emiko had let out a loud 'ya-ha' and hugged each other. There was a lot of happy clapping and cheers from the crowd, Anezaki had felt like her team just won a game she went to live.

"Kongo-sama had gotten a text message from his brother right after we got outside," Anezaki recalled, "Agon-kun apparently broke out of the courthouse jail and told him to take care of Nozomi-chan for the rest of the day while he ran away from the police…."

_"But isn't Unsui a police officer?"_ Kobayakawa was confused.

"Well yes but you know he's got a very complicated relationship with his brother…." Anezaki trailed off, knowing that her friend could fill in the rest. "Anyways, Emiko-chan really wanted me to come to dinner with Hiruma-kun and her Grandpapa."

_"Oh?"_ Kobayakawa was using that suspicious, gleeful tone she used in high school when she has suspicions about the love lives of others.

"It didn't seem right for me to go, so I declined." Anezaki admitted. Emiko hadn't been terribly happy about that news.

_"You declined?"_ Kobayakawa sounded disappointed.

"Yes, I did." Anezaki frowned. She had, on the other hand, had dinner with them the next evening. Hiruma and her hadn't been able to talk much about _them_, which what they had intended. Instead they found themselves playing dolls with Emiko and watching football games. Not that Anezaki had minded playing with Emiko, she still wished she could had talked to Hiruma a bit.

_"How is elf-bro doing?"_ Kobayakawa asked, still sounding suspicious.

"He's-" Anezaki's memory betrayed her.

_School had just dismissed for the day and Anezaki was walking the children out to see them off. To her surprise most of the mothers there had gathered around a familiar head of spiky black hair. She could hear enough of what was being said._

_All of those women were flirting with Hiruma!_

_"-manager help!" Hiruma cried, shooting a desperate look her way. Anezaki smiled and told all of the children they should go hug their moms. Predictably, Emiko gave Anezaki a hug and stayed at her side._

_During the resulting chaos, Hiruma managed to weasel out of the crowd. He then approached Anezaki and Emiko, giving them both a happy smile. _

_"Papa!" Emiko cried and stopped hugging Anezaki to run into her Papa's arms. Hiruma pulled Emiko in close, hugging the girl tightly and happily. It wasn't intentional, but Anezaki found herself walking right on over and kneeling down next to Hiruma. He looked up and gave her an intense look with those sharp green eyes of his. _

_A look of love and desire._

_Her breath hitching momentarily, Anezaki tried to remember the last time a man had looked at her like _that…._ And in all honestly she couldn't remember. But she couldn't help but to think how beautiful he was. And somehow Emiko right there made him even more amazing._

_"Are you two going to kiss?" Emiko asked, startling them both._

_"I-!" Anezaki was blushing, she had to be blushing. Of course she wanted to kiss him again, but would he-?_

_"Emiko-!" Hiruma was flustered and embarrassed. An expression she hadn't recalled seeing him wear since the incident where he got drunk at Takekura's office that one time…._

_"Papa, why's your face red?" Emiko asked innocently._

_Anezaki became acutely aware of the sounds of the other mothers chatting. Well; gossiping and taking bets about the current romance was more like it. She was sure Hiruma was aware of this as well. Despite this he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into an awkward hug._

_"You know, I can go get a babysitter later and we can talk, hmm?" Hiruma whispered in her ear. His breath was warm and smelled faintly of mint, it made her _shiver.

_"Yeah…." Anezaki muttered in agreement. "One for the fans and for Emiko?"_

_"Nah, for 'us'." Hiruma told her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He picked Emiko up and announced to her they were going to go home now._

_"Bye!" Emiko said, looking her Papa in the face as opposed to Anezaki._

_"-ori! Mamori! Are you there!?"_ Kobayakawa exclaimed worriedly into the receiver.

"Oh-oh! Yes!" Anezaki got a grip on herself.

_"What's with you!?"_ Kobayakawa demanded. _"Daydreaming in the middle of an international call!"_

"Sorry." Anezaki apologized. "Hiruma-kun and Emiko-chan are much happier now that they are back together."

_"Why'd it take you so long to say that?"_ Kobayakawa demanded.

Anezaki smelled burning.

"My pie!"

_=_=_=_=_

Hiruma-Mamori fluff in the flashback! There! Yay!


	35. 32: Hanging By a Moment

Author's Note: Yes, I finally got some really hard stuff in this chapter. Well sort of, you'll see in a moment. I would like to tell you what I did with the names in the chapter was very intentional, before you go telling me about it in a review and acting confused.

Song: 'Hanging By a Moment' is by Lifehouse, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 32: Hanging By a Moment

It was now a 'later' in the life of Anezaki Mamori, the infamous later when Hiruma Youichi and herself would sit down and discuss 'us'. She was nervous, of course, since she was sure this was going to be a serious relationship; and she hadn't been in a serious relationship since just after college. And Anezaki knew Hiruma had never really been in a serious relationship beyond whatever he had had with Chizue and that certainly had not been healthy.

Sharp knocking pulled her out of her revelry, reminding Anezaki to answer her door. There stood Hiruma, his hair restored to the amazing bleach blond color she had recalled from his high school and college years. He wore his same four silver hoops, a cocky grin, and was carrying a gun and… flowers!?

"Those are new." Anezaki observed, looking down at the flowers.

"Emiko helped me get ready." Hiruma admitted, blushing slightly. He made her feel underdressed by wearing black slacks and a red silk shirt, while she was wearing old jeans and a blue shirt. After a little more examination, Anezaki felt better when she observed with a wry smile that he was wearing his abused, everyday loafers.

"That was nice of her…." Anezaki smiled. "Would you like to come inside while I grab a vase for those?"

Hiruma paused for a moment, realizing Anezaki probably didn't know the language of flowers. Emiko hadn't either, but she had, by pure chance, selected a bouquet that said a great deal about how Hiruma thought about Anezaki. The flowers were snowdrops for hope, celandine for joys to come, almond for promise, and purple lilacs for the start of love. Emiko had just liked the colors, of course, but Hiruma had liked the meaning even more. It didn't matter if Anezaki understood what they meant, she liked them too and he was going to hold onto that.

Nodding, Hiruma stepped into Anezaki's home. He followed her into the kitchen and helped her put the flowers into a large vase. His hands never touched hers, but the closeness was almost tense. Hiruma wasn't sure how to interpret that, he never ever had a real girlfriend before.

"Who's your babysitter?" Anezaki asked a little awkwardly. She didn't like the current silence much.

"Juumonji." Hiruma answered a bit awkwardly himself. "He wanted to fucking meet her and she's always liked the way he looked…."

"Ah." Anezaki nodded. Juumonji would keep Emiko safe, that's probably the real reason Hiruma selected him.

"Do we fucking talk now or something?" Hiruma asked bluntly, wanting to escape the strangeness of the situation for a moment. Anezaki nodded slowly.

"We talk about our feelings and expectations and needs." Anezaki explained, knowing Hiruma had little direction right now.

"Like some fucking counseling session?" Hiruma grumbled.

"More like a team meeting," Anezaki put it in terms Hiruma would understand and accept.

Hiruma didn't say anything right away; he just shut his eyes and thought hard for a moment. Appreciating that he wanted to give a thoughtful answer, Anezaki sat there quietly and waited. Thankfully Hiruma did not keep her waiting too long.

"Emiko," Hiruma began, "is the most important person in my life right now. If she hadn't come back- fuck- I would had probably fucking gotten my sorry ass killed doing some stupid-ass shit." He grimaced at the truth. That night he had ran away from Takekura and Kurita at Devie's flashed in Anezaki's mind.

"I want her happy and safe," Hiruma went on, "have a future and all that sentimental shit. That's what I've been trying to do these last few years and with that fucking custody shit; it taught me something, you know?" Hiruma confessed, his eyes lit up with intense emotion. Unknowingly, Anezaki held her breath as she stared into those eyes.

"I can't do it alone." Hiruma held her gaze for another moment then looked down a bit. "Fuck, I couldn't even get her back without your help."

It took her a moment, but Anezaki remembered to start breathing again. Passing out on Hiruma wasn't going to help matters.

"I'm fucked up with an ass-load of issues, my daughter's got a fucking mental disability, and my in-laws are mental." Hiruma told her. "And I'm selfish as hell because I want you to drop everything and move into my fucked up family…."

"I don't think you're 'fucked up'." Anezaki told Hiruma gently. "Now, I will agree that you have plenty of issues, but those can be dealt with eventually."

"Don't fucking sugar-coat it," Hiruma almost growled, "just don't."

"Youichi," Anezaki began, startling Hiruma by using his given name, "I honestly don't think you're fucked up. That's my honest opinion, because if you were truly fucked up, I don't think you'd be capable of loving Emiko-chan as intensely as you do."

Hiruma couldn't come up with a retort for that.

"The last time I was in a serious relationship, we did a great deal of dating before I moved in with him," Anezaki explained, "but I don't think you or I are really going to have time to date at this point." Not with their jobs and Emiko to worry about.

"Not traditionally." Hiruma agreed. He wasn't the kind of guy that did things traditionally anyways.

"And since you need help with Emiko, I think it might be best if we skip the dating step and I move in…." Anezaki observed.

"I don't have a bed for you-" Hiruma protested only to have Anezaki cut him off.

"-Not right away." Anezaki clarified, waving her hands a little bit to show he wasn't following her train of thought. "Emiko-chan should know about the change first before I just up and move in, and I have to deal with my lease and the like on my end."

After hearing her words, Hiruma nodded. In the past he'd always had faith in Anezaki's ability to look ahead, it appeared he could still count on that. He'd been pleased with her words too; she was thinking about Emiko's needs too.

Honestly, Hiruma had been scared about this relationship that was starting, but Emiko wanted it and he was going to try and make it work. So Anezaki's words meant more to him than she probably realized, because she wanted to make this work too.

She probably didn't realize this, but Anezaki was becoming more and more beautiful in Hiruma's eyes. It made him feel horrible that something like him was intending to stain her purity and drag her down into his personal hell hole, but he couldn't stop desiring her.

"Should we get going then?" Anezaki asked, glancing at the clock. They had made some dinner plans and should leave soon if they wanted to get to the restaurant on time for their reservation.

"…So that's it then?" Hiruma asked as he stood up, frowning. He didn't feel like Anezaki had contributed like he had. He wanted to know her feelings and fears, he wanted to know why she was willing to move into his house and face his life.

"We can talk more on the way-!" Anezaki was about to suggest when her eyes noticed something unusual. She'd seen men become aroused in the past, but not while wearing dress pants, and definitely not someone like Hiruma.

Confused eyes followed Anezaki's gaze to look down at an erection he didn't even know was there. Mentally, Hiruma searched himself for reasons as to how that got there. He'd been thinking about how beautiful and pure Anezaki was and that was enough to make him have his first erection in six years? He needed to get out more.

Now the new couple was faced with awkward silence and a dilemma. Do they actually go to dinner and pretend this didn't happen? Does someone make a comment? Do they decide to do something about it and fuck like bunnies on the living room floor? Both weighed the choices and pondered each set of consequences as they stood there, frozen in time. The clock ticked loudly, yet went unheard; its thin hands showing that they starting be late for dinner.

"Fucking aroused yet?" Youichi asked her with a cocky grin and an amused tone. He had made his choice, no dinner, comment and open the potential to get laid. If she wasn't willing he'd back down of course, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be upset by it. After all, he'd always wanted to know what making love was like, since all he had was unwanted sex....

Anezaki's eyes shot up to Youichi's face when he spoke. Despite the familiar grin and attitude she knew from high school, his face looked foreign. It was flushed with red-tipped ears and a hazy, lust-filled gaze. She could see in his eyes that he was hopeful, hopeful she'd respond.

"...Don't talk about it like that." Mamori glared slightly, a blush dusting her own cheeks.

"Oh? Why not?" Youichi asked her. "It's just some fucking words." He was being childish about it and he knew it. In all honesty, he didn't give a damn.

"J-just stop it, okay?" Mamori was now apple red with embarrassment and arousal.

"You can't get your mind off it can you?" Youichi observed as he stalked over to where she stood. "The thought of fucking me, it's eating at you isn't it?" He was still grinning madly, grinning because he was in control. That's where he liked to be.

"Honestly," Mamori shut her eyes and took a calming breath, "if you're that fixated on it, I suppose the only thing left is to deal with it." When she opened her eyes she was in control of herself again. She wasn't a child anymore, but right now she wanted to be one. To be a haughty teenager that was wrestling against the neighborhood bully and menace.

"Me fixed?" Youichi shot back with a look of obviously feigned distress. "You're the one implying we should fuck."

"And if I meant that?" Mamori questioned Youichi, her blue eyes flashing in challenge, daring him to touch the topic.

"Then you better not fucking disappoint me." Youichi leaned over and whispered in her ear, his breath ghosting across the exposed flesh. As the shiver flew down her spine, leaving inklings of pleasure in its wake, she knew she lost this little game.

"Bedroom. Now." Mamori ordered, deciding she'd have the last word. Instead she only got most literally swept off her feet.

"Lead the way, love." Youichi requested in a mockingly gentlemanly manner as he cradled her blushing body against his. Later, after this was over, both would be completely unable to remember how they got undressed, let alone into her bedroom. The first solid memory of that night, for Mamori, would be being pushed down against the mattress, Youichi's lips forcefully crushing against hers.

Long, graceful fingers pressed firmly into Mamori's shoulders, holding her down while Youichi continued to attack her mouth. In the heat of arousal, Mamori wasn't really caring about how the amount of force Youichi was using was, though it seemed a little strange to her that he was being so forceful. It was almost as if he was trying to prove something by being forceful….

Youichi loved her feel, that's all there was to it. Mamori's body was soft and light, but not fragile. She was making noises, urgent and aroused, that shot fire into his groin. _He_ was making _her_ feel this way; a liberating feeling, that's what it was. He was making love today, and she was making love right back and he wanted her to know it…!

The annoyed protesting grunt escaped her before she even had a chance to stop it. Youichi had pulled back and was looming over her, panting and flushed. His lips were just as swollen and abused as hers, something that made her feel like an equal despite the fact he was dominating her.

"-love you." Youichi had been talking, Mamori realized, she only caught the end of what he was saying.

"I love you too." Mamori smiled at him, despite her own panting and the burning blush on her cheeks. She reached up, a little hesitant, and pulled him down against her. His body was warm and hard and at every point it touched against her, she felt a smoldering heat rise within herself.

Feeling the flesh of her thigh against his throbbing prick was amazing, Youichi decided. It gave him an idea for a little experiment. With a small grin he grinded against her pelvis, earning a loud moan from both of them. His body quivered afterward, the pleasure still rushing about in his veins like fire. Mamori only looked awed, her blue eyes opened wide to stare at him and only him.

Youichi had to kiss her again, she was so beautiful like that. Her hands ran down his back, grabbing his hips in a needy fashion. Her legs tangled themselves up in his, trying to create more heat, more love between them. As she moves her legs, she rubbed something against his cock, causing him to moan and shudder in pleasure.

It was enough to drive a man insane!

Pulling back, Youichi adjusted himself so that he could stop this nonsense and get inside her precious folds. Mamori only arched and squirmed a little, trying to pull him close again. Grunting, he grabbed her hips tightly and pinned them down against the bed. She fought a little bit more until she figured out what he was trying to do, then, to his confusion, she went stiff.

Ever since he picked her up, Mamori had felt like she'd been in a dream. But now, now she knew that this was real. Too real. She was about to have sex with Hiruma Youichi on her own bed and-!

"S-stop!" Anezaki cried, unable to hide her distress. "I don't have any condoms!"

Hiruma jerked upright, his eyes wide with surprise and fear. What the hell was he doing!? He pulled away from her, his fucking erection gone.

"Sorry." Hiruma muttered as he settled into his new position sitting on the edge of the bed. He had set a hand on his forehead and clenched his eyes shut to hold in the tears.

Anezaki lay there and stared at him, still aroused and feeling extremely unsatisfied. She also felt guilty, knowing that Hiruma's current mood was her fault. She should have thought this through instead of being impulsive and childish about it. She should have been strong enough to resist his baiting, especially after all these years of teaching…!

"My fault," Anezaki told him, "I should have remembered that before we started…."

"I-" Hiruma cut himself off, struggling for words, "-should go." He went to stand up, only to find Anezaki was pulling him back onto the bed.

"I-I want to do this together!" Anezaki explained. "I want to be by your side…!"

"What?" Hiruma turned his head to look at her, only to realize it was going to be impossible since she had buried her face into his back. He almost jumped when he felt two drops of hot water splash onto his back.

"Don't go!" Anezaki pleaded. "You'll be alone and you shouldn't be alone right now!"

Hiruma sat there and felt himself crying now. He didn't want to be alone anymore, but being here was awkward.

"I didn't mean to do this," Anezaki was referring to the change of mood, "but I didn't want you be unhappy because you felt like you hurt me…."

She still knew him too well.

"I don't need sex, I don't need you to be gentle, but," Anezaki was honest, "I just want to be beside you when I go to bed at night. That's all."

A large hand grabbed hers and squeezed lightly.

"…Thank you." Hiruma told her quietly. He opened his eyes again and looked up, only to see something that made his blood turn cold.

Chizue was staring down at him, frowning.

_=_=_=_=_

Hey, I got this virus thing that practically killed me for 5 days. Then there's midterms and school related crap. So yeah, sorry this took so long. And don't kill me for the failed lemon.


	36. 33: The Answer

Author's Note: Hey, school's been kicking my ass pretty good this term, but here's your next installment!

Song: The Answer is by Automatic Loveletter, I do not own it.

**Request:** Are there any English-Indonesian translators out there? I have had multiple requests to have this story translated. If there's someone that could translate it for me, I would greatly appreciate it!

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 33: The Answer

Juumonji hadn't had time to change out of his uniform when he finally arrived outside of Hiruma's apartment. He couldn't help but to stop and stare at the door in awe. Behind this door was the little hole Hiruma had been successfully hiding in for the last six years and the precious daughter that Hiruma had done the hiding for. Juumonji couldn't help but to think about how he managed to get this job.

_Hiruma had actually come back to Takekura Construction Company two months ago, but it wasn't until today that his presence back at the company was announced. Something about grace periods, Juumonji didn't really care about the excuse. He was more interested in hearing what Hiruma had to say about the last six years._

_Juumonji wasn't too surprised about who he found in the board room that morning. Kuroki, Togano, himself, Komusubi, Gaou, Onihei, Kurita, and the others on the Babies line. Not to mention they had some of the back there too: Mushanokoji, Tetsuma, Kaitani, and Ikkyu. Yukimitsu was there too, but he always kind of showed up at these Devil Bat receptions, so no one thought anything of it. Raimon was probably the only really surprising face in the room, considering he was supposed to be in America right now and judging by the startled look on Hiruma's face that, he hadn't been expecting that either._

_"I was kind of wondering why Sena had to stop practice and fly out here." Raimon confessed. "And he asked me to make sure Hiruma was okay." Everyone seemed to be satisfied with that explanation, even if Hiruma grumbled something to himself._

_"Well, this is your meeting." Takekura pointed out to Hiruma, looking a little bored like he usually did. Kurita and Takekura were here mostly because everyone expected them to be. Since they already knew about Hiruma's last six years and had been helping him transition into society again, they wouldn't be learning anything new today. _

_Before Hiruma stood up to speak Juumonji noticed something about his expression he hadn't ever recalled seeing on Hiruma before: hesitation and regret. Obviously Hiruma was the one most affected by his absence, something Juumonji hadn't appreciated until now. Silence fell over the room and all eyes turned to look at Hiruma as he stood there._

_"First off, I got hitched 8 years back. Arranged and shit, totally superficial." Hiruma began, waving off most of what actually happened with his marriage as 'unimportant'. "Anyways my wife got pregnant-"_

_"Huh?" Kuroki protested, he didn't follow that explanation at all. "What do you mean 'got pregnant'?" Okay, part of the explanation._

_"She fucked and got pregnant, it's where babies come from." Hiruma gave Kuroki a flat look. On the other hand his tone had the faintest sense of helplessness about it. This was not an easy subject for Hiruma. Most of the people there didn't catch that, like Toganou._

_"Does this mean-!?" Toganou cut himself off, dreading the next thought. _

_"-You have a kid?" Juumonji finished, wanting to know the answer enough to dare to finish the question._

_"No, my wife was having an affair with fucking dreads and got knocked up," Hiruma rolled his eyes, his voice oozing with sarcasm, "of course it was my kid!"_

_Kurita started laughing and Hiruma shot him a slightly disgusted and mostly confused look._

_"You're joking about it now!" Kurita laughed a little. He was really happy about this. The expression on Hiruma's face became thoughtful and somber for a moment before returning back to the annoyed expression it had had when he started the explanation._

_"A kid, huh?" Gaou looked at Hiruma carefully._

_"What happened to him?" Onihei asked._

_"She," Hiruma corrected Onihei, "has been living in my house, being raised by just me."_

_Raimon's eyes flew open. The thought of _Hiruma_ of all people being a single parent was just mind boggling._

_"Why'd you wait so long to tell us?" Yukimitsu asked suddenly, startling the room. He'd been sitting in the back quietly, watching Hiruma carefully. To be honest, Yukimitsu had just heard that Hiruma had been found and was having a meeting about a week ago. He didn't know anything about Emiko and her situation._

_Hiruma shut his eyes and took a trembling breath, having lost his composure at Yukimitsu's question. _

_"I-"Hiruma almost choked on his own breath, "-I was scared."_

_The room fell silent. Hiruma doesn't admit weakness like this, ever. It was jarring to see the almost inhumanly amazing man like Hiruma be normal, be scared. Everyone always thought of the demonic trickster and forgot he was a fragile human underneath all of that. That's how Hiruma had wanted it._

_"I have yet to meet a parent that wasn't scared about being one at some point," Yukimitsu commented, "and I can't say I'm too surprised to hear you went a bit overboard about it. You've never done _anything_ in moderation."_

_Mummers of agreement filled the room._

_"G-girl!" Komusubi demanded suddenly._

_"He says he's only willing to forgive you if you show us some pictures of your lovely daughter right now." Kurita translated quickly. Several more agreeing mummers filled the room._

_"Ke ke ke! Aren't you fucking lucky I came prepared?" Hiruma pulled a ton of photographs out nowhere, startling everyone in the room. "Her name's Hiruma Emiko and she's six." He then passed them out._

_"She's-!" Onihei gasped._

_"Cute max!" Raimon muttered._

_"'Course." Hiruma smiled with smug fatherly pride. Most of the pictures considered of Emiko in the living room at his apartment playing with her stuffed animals or playing with her puppy. Being Emiko, she had a big smile and seemed to be happily laughing in most of the images._

_"If it wasn't for the ears I wouldn't believe she was your kid…." Mushanokoji remarked only to have a paper cup thrown at his head. Hiruma only glared, his arm outstretched just enough to make it clear _who_ threw that cup. _

_"Aww Tetsuma, why didn't you catch that?" Mushanokoji asked his friend._

_"You deserved it." Tetsuma replied in a monotone. Everyone else in the room laughed at Mushanokoji's expense._

_"Any other fucking questions?" Hiruma asked. _

_"When can we meet her?" Gaou asked, much to everyone's amazement._

_"Next Friday if you want to babysit," Hiruma answered, "I'm not really up for fucking guests right now." _

_"I-I'll do it." Juumonji volunteered. Hiruma's disappearance hadn't sat well with him and hearing about Emiko…. The security officer wanted some answers and the only way he was going to find them was by meeting Emiko._

_"Huh?"_

_"Huh!?"_

_"Han!"_

_"Oh?" Hiruma was amused. "That was fast, fucking eldest."_

_"We're. Not. Brothers!" Juumonji, Kuroki, and Toganou spat on reflex. Everyone laughed again._

Juumonji knocked.

"You're 10 minutes late." Hiruma remarked, looking particularly unhappy with this. He was dressed extremely sharply, with a notable return of the bleach blond hair.

"Couldn't find the visitor parking." Juumonji confessed and Hiruma only nodded sympathetically.

"Here's the deal," Hiruma began as he led Juumonji into the living room, "dinner is at 6 pm, tell her to feed the dog after dinner, at 8 pm there's a show she likes to watch on TV and at 9:30 pm she goes to bed. Under no circumstances are you to give her sugar and be firm or she'll walk all over you."

Juumonji stared at Hiruma, those were insanely specific instructions. Surely taking care of a kid wasn't that involved.

"Also, don't be late with anything or she'll get upset. Really upset." Hiruma warned Juumonji. "She's got Asperger's Syndrome and really hates it if something's late." He was deadly serious about that. Juumonji faintly recalled Hiruma and Onihei talking about that at the end of the meeting. He hadn't been paying attention.

"Okay." Juumonji nodded.

"Oye! Emiko!" Hiruma called into the back of the apartment. "I'm leaving, do you want to say goodbye?"

The sound of rapidly pounding feet came down the hall and Juumonji got his first look at Emiko in person. She was wearing a bright red shirt and some shorts. Her hair was up in two blue ribbons and she was smiling brightly.

"Papa!" Emiko called, running right into Hiruma's open arms. "You will have a good time, and be happy with Mom, okay?" It took Juumonji a second to figure out that Emiko was lecturing her father. Her face was super serious and her tone was monotone and fast, but she clearly meant what she said.

Hiruma smiled at his daughter kindly and squeezed her hand. "I will, now you be good for Juumonji-san, okay?"

"Okay." Emiko nodded.

Standing up, Hiruma turned to Juumonji. "Well, I leave you to it. My cell's on the fridge, don't call me for something stupid." And with that Hiruma grabbed a bouquet of flowers and went out the door.

After Hiruma left Juumonji and Emiko turned and looked at each other.

"Hey." Juumonji greeted Emiko with a small smile.

Slowly, Emiko's face lit up as her big eyes looked Juumonji up and down. Her hands started flapping ever so slightly. In all honesty, Juumonji wasn't sure what he thought of this.

"We," Emiko began her eyes sparkling, "should play dress up!"

"Huh?"

And Juumonji's evening spiraled down hill from there.

Several hours later, long after Emiko should had been in bed, a tired, ruffled Hiruma returned to his apartment. Cleaning things up with Anezaki had been awkward and then there was the whole missed dinner thing and needing to eat that resulted in him getting home at a pretty damn late hour. The apartment was pretty quiet, only a little noise coming from the living room. So Hiruma had taken his time taking off his shoes and walked slowly into the living room, hiding most of his tiredness.

Priceless was the expression Hiruma found himself wearing when he saw what had become of Juumonji's evening. The poor man had, for some reason, been forced into a pair of Hiruma's favorite pants, ones that were pretty tight on Hiruma and Juumonji was several sizes bigger than him. The security officer also had a Devil Bat mascot crudely painted on his forehead in... lipstick? And the final insult was that he'd been tangled (or was it tied poorly?) in baby pink yarn. Emiko, on the other hand, was shirtless and bouncing up and down on the couch very quickly, her arms flailing rapidly, and her face smiling in a very satisfied way. During this whole time Chizue, the dog, was hiding underneath the coffee table whimpering about something or another.

So much for paying Juumonji and going to bed quietly.

"Help?" Juumonji asked, looking desperate. Considering his current predicament, he probably was.

Hiruma simply signaled him to wait. "Emiko, what did you eat today?"

"Oh hi Papa!" Emiko squealed, noticing her dad for the first time, "Juumonji-san got us 'pizza' and he let me have one of his 'cinnamon stix' with extra frosting and he let me play dress up and we got to draw and we watched a football game and I got to stay up until you came home!" The last part of that was uttered in one breath.

Sugar. He gave her sugar.

Fuck.

"Emiko, I need you to wash up, okay?" Hiruma asked her gently.

"Okay Papa!" Emiko smiled and ran down the house, laughing as she went.

"S-sorry…!" Juumonji apologized, expecting that Hiruma was going to kick his ass now.

"You weren't firm with her," Hiruma observed as he started in on the yarn, "you gave her sugar, you let her stay up late, and somehow you got into my pants...." The last part probably involved breaking the laws of physics.

Juumonji just laid down there and took it, knowing that Hiruma was more than right. Working quickly, Hiruma finished removing Juumonji from the yarn in silence. He wanted Juumonji to reflect on all the stupid shit he'd gotten handed to him because he couldn't follow Hiruma's instructions.

"Now I'm going to try and put Emiko to bed. You have that time to clean up and get back into your own clothes." Hiruma left an unspoken remark about the consequences of not listening to instructions now. It was better left unspoken because it involved a lot of swearing and choice words about certain parts of Juumonji's anatomy and what Hiruma planned to do to them with his guns and the knives in the kitchen.

Juumonji only nodded once and waddled as best as he could into Hiruma's bedroom to retrieve his own clothes. On the other hand, Hiruma went into the bathroom to check on Emiko. She had just finished brushing her teeth and was now rinsing when Hiruma came in. Her entire form was shaking up and down, jittery because of the sugar. Sugar had always had a strong effect on Hiruma and, he had physical scars to testify to this, it also had had an amazing effect on Chizue. This was why Hiruma tried to avoid giving Emiko sugary things; it always resulted in her being jittery and jumpy.

Not that Juumonji had known that. Something Hiruma didn't blame the man for, he probably thought the sugar was just to try and keep her from developing a sweet tooth or something. No, the no sugar was to keep Emiko's already somewhat hyperactive behavior down at a minimum.

"Papa!" Emiko smiled at him. She did it all by herself! She's a big girl now!

"Emiko." Hiruma smiled and pulled his girl into a hug. She was getting so big on him, it was scary. Despite her jitters, she was happy in that hug with him. Hiruma pulled away gently and looked at Emiko.

"It's time for bed now." Hiruma told her. Emiko only frowned.

"But I'm not tired." Emiko protested.

"You've been up an extra three hours, you need to go to bed or you won't grow up to be big and strong." Hiruma told Emiko firmly. "We have an early day tomorrow."

"Papa!" Emiko frowned. She didn't want to go bed, it didn't make any sense. Papa was here now; couldn't she spend some more time with him?

With a sigh, Hiruma shook his head and picked Emiko up. She squirmed, not really wanting the contact at this time. Having gotten more than used to Emiko's squirming, Hiruma expertly carried her into her bedroom where he set her down on the bed.

"Emiko, I'm not happy with what I found when I came home." Hiruma told his daughter seriously. "Juumonji is an old friend of mine and I found him tied up and wearing _my_ clothes. He was looked really unhappy and in pain."

Emiko's frown only deepened. "But Juumonji-san wanted to play dress up with me and there aren't any other clothes here that fit-!"

"-Emiko you didn't ask me if you could use my clothes to play dress up." Hiruma told her.

"But you weren't here!" Emiko protested. "I can't ask you if you're not here!"

"Then assume the answer is 'no'." Hiruma told her. "I did not like that Juumonji was wearing my pants. He doesn't fit into them and now they might have stretched or broke so that they don't fit me anymore."

Emiko felt horrible. She knew Papa really liked those pants too.

"And why did he have a Devil Bat on his forehead?" Hiruma asked.

"Make-up was part of dress up, Grandma said so." Emiko explained. "So I put make-up on him."

"Did he say it was okay?" Hiruma asked.

"Yes." Emiko nodded. "Trouble?"

"Not for that." Hiruma assured her. "And why was he tied up in yarn?"

"I was showing him my knitting." Emiko answered. "Then Chizue started running around barking and uh, Juumonji-san fell and rolled around…." She was working really hard to tell Papa what happened. Hiruma ran a hand through his hair, tired.

"You're not in trouble for that either then. But you still have to go to bed now." Hiruma told her firmly.

"Papa!" Emiko's eyes were watering slightly.

"You're tried and cranky, I'm tired and cranky, we both need sleep." Hiruma told her. "I'm going to bed in just a minute okay?"

"O-okay." Emiko sniffled then started to put on her pajamas. Once she was in them she crawled into bed and Papa tucked her in and kissed her goodnight. Emiko shut her eyes and tried to sleep, but she couldn't. So she sat there and daydreamed, hoping that would help.

Hiruma left Emiko's room and came into the living room where Juumonji was now sitting, clean, dressed in his clothes, and looking like he was about to be executed.

"I heard all about your evening." Hiruma announced as he stepped into the room.

"D-did you now?" Juumonji asked, sweating bullets. Emiko was a sweet girl, but she was definitely Hiruma's child. And to think that Hiruma was probably wrapped around that little girl's finger-!

"What possessed you to agree to playing dress up?" Hiruma asked, giving Juumonji a look that clearly expressed that Juumonji's sanity was currently in question.

"Don't you play that with kids?" Juumonji asked back. He's not that familiar with kid games, so sue him.

"I don't usually wind up with lipstick on my forehead and in pants several sizes too small when I do." Hiruma retorted dryly. "You don't strike me as the type to like girly games like that anyways."

"Wait- did you just tell me that you've actually played dress up?" Juumonji was staring at Hiruma, a bit disturbed by the notion.

"It's more her asking me to put on my old football uniform than me dressing up." Hiruma clarified. "And besides that she doesn't have a mom to play with."

Though Hiruma had said it so casually, 'mom' was an extremely sensitive subject for him, Juumonji could tell. He had heard from Takekura and Kurita that Hiruma's own mother had died when he was young and Hiruma's late wife was probably another sensitive subject. So Juumonji didn't blame Hiruma for not putting his heart into that statement entirely.

"So what were you doing?" Juumonji asked. He was pretty curious because Hiruma had been dressed extremely nicely and now his clothes were in a state of complete disarray.

"Anyone else would have given up on me with the shit I pulled." Hiruma muttered, looking at the ceiling tiredly. Anezaki hadn't held what happened against him. In fact he got kissed again a few times before their night was over, but it hadn't made it any less awkward for him; mostly because Chizue's presence was in the back of his mind again.

"Shit you pulled?" Juumonji frowned. Now that didn't sound like Hiruma. "What happened?"

Hiruma shut his eyes. "Almost fucked her without birth control."

Juumonji's eyes widened. He knew exactly what woman Hiruma had gone and seen. Emiko had told him all about her new mom all evening and that her Papa was going to go see her.

"Almost did that once myself," Juumonji confessed, earning a confused glance from Hiruma, "my girlfriend bit my dick pretty good for that…."

Hiruma looked away to hide his disturbed and scared expression. He's trying not to remember the last time Chizue had gotten her mouth near his gentiles, there are scars there to this day.

"I don't blame you for being a little hasty though," Juumonji went on, "I mean, you haven't gotten any action in six years. Baldy's got a more active sexual life."

"Rub it in and I'm going to hold what happened tonight against you." Hiruma growled.

"Okay, okay!" Juumonji put up his hands in surrender. Hiruma remained slightly irritated.

"I came here to find some answers." Juumonji admitted after a few moments.

"Did you find them?" Hiruma asked, knowing full well what Juumonji was thinking.

"Not any of the ones I had been coming for but," Juumonji looked at Hiruma, "I found the answers I needed to know."

Hiruma only raised an eyebrow.

"I understand why you wanted to protect her." Juumonji explained. Emiko was insanely smart and just adorable. She'd grow into a brilliant and beautiful woman who would have complete control over her life if nothing bad happened along the way.

"And I know that you want to make everything work," Juumonji added, "and just so you know, I've got your back if you need me to."

Hiruma turned and looked at Juumonji carefully. The man had been in security a long time and a lineman even longer. He still trusted Hiruma as a leader after all of this.

"Here's your money." Hiruma handed Juumonji a small sum of cash. "And be safe on your way back."

Juumonji was shocked to hear Hiruma wishing him to be safe.

"What fucking good is a protector that gets himself into trouble?" Hiruma asked Juumonji with an annoyed look. Obviously his reasons for saying such things should be obvious.

"Not much." Juumonji admitted sheepishly. "Goodnight then, Hiruma."

"Goodnight."

_=_=_=_=_

Done. Holy crap. It's done. And please look at the request at the top.


	37. 34: Let Me Go

Song: Let Me Go is by 3 Doors Down, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 34: Let Me Go

_"Do you have everything?" Emiko asked._

_ "Yes."_

_ "Are you sure?" Emiko looked extra serious._

_ "Yes."_

_ "Okay." Emiko nodded once, certain. "Good luck, Papa!"_

_ "Thank you."_

_ A hug._

_ "I'll watch over her, you be careful out there." Anezaki had informed him with a smile._

_ "Aren't I always?" _

And here he was opening the door to a locker room he hadn't been in inside of in over six years. He took a good breath and put on his usual overly confident grin and opened the door, marching right inside without any hesitation. Several of his old teammates jumped and gasped like they'd seen a ghost.

In a sense they just had. But Hiruma only eyed them cryptically before walking over to his own locker and preparing for practice like he always had. There wasn't any whispering, these people knew better. Looking down at his hand, Hiruma realized he was still wearing Chizue's ring. He put it on when she'd gone into labor and hadn't taken it off since.

Suppressing the shiver Chizue's gaze should had given him, Hiruma pulled out the golden chain he'd always used to hold Chizue's ring back when she was alive. The ring came off much easier than he thought it would and Chizue's gaze and presence was gone again when it was off. Maybe that'd been the source of his issues? That ring?

He put it around his neck, earning confused looks from a few of his teammates. Then he expertly put on and secured all of his pads. He grumpily taped up his ankles, wishing faintly Anezaki had been there to do it for him. Finally he pulled on his uniform, looking every bit like the player he was.

"Ah, Youichi-kun," Kurokawa Makoto, the Babies' coach, greeted Hiruma, "we're going to start you with a 40-yard dash and a bench press." Kurokawa was half American, having very western coloring on a very eastern body. He was a pretty short man, but he understood football extremely well. He never raised his voice and got angry, but because he was so nice you kind of felt obligated to do whatever he asked you to, even if said thing was '100 sit-ups'. Hiruma had always liked that aspect about him and he also had learned a great deal about the game from the man, so Hiruma respected him a great deal.

"Yes sir." Hiruma nodded. He'd been asked to not come to practice while he did some strengthening training on his own, to get his old body back into shape for the game. Kurokawa had been very understanding about Emiko too, having a son of his own. In fact he told Hiruma to keep his cell phone on and the ringer high. The same way he casually told Hiruma to run five kilometers everyday for a week.

Which Hiruma had done without complaint.

After Hiruma left the locker room and made his way out towards the field, he heard the locker room burst into hurried whispers. Kurokawa was still in there so Hiruma highly doubted much was going to happen.

"Nice water bottle." Takekura commented, a bemused smile on his face as he eyed the object in Hiruma's hands. Emiko had drawn on a red water bottle for Hiruma to use, to remind him she was rooting for him back home. Being a loving father, Hiruma had thought it was extremely fucking cute and took it with him.

"'Course it's nice." Hiruma smiled, taking a little drink out of it. He had a daughter back home who loved him to pieces, what's not to like?

"'Rice Bowl for sure, ya-ha!'" Takekura read out loud. There were Devil Bats on the bottle too and a little picture of Emiko giving a victory sign. Very cute.

"Just a little reminder failure isn't an option, fucking old man." Hiruma told his friend. On the top of the bottle it said 'Property of Papa, No Touching!'

"So what's on your list of assignments?" Takekura asked more seriously as he fell into place beside Hiruma.

"A dash and press." Hiruma answered.

"Makes sense." Takekura nodded.

"Fucking Coach isn't an idiot," Hiruma reminded Takekura, "of course it'll make fucking sense."

"Mind if I watch you?" Takekura requested. Hiruma shook his head, not minding at all.

Crunch.

Hiruma's eyes shot open, the feel of grass beneath his spikes startling him. It was familiar sensation, of course, but he hadn't realized he'd forgotten what that felt like. Shaking his head to clear it and regain his composure, Hiruma couldn't shake the feeling he was walking in a dream. The smells, the sounds, the sights, all were familiar, but not at the same time.

Takekura watched over his friend carefully. Hiruma's eyes were looking around at everything, trying to take it all in at once, just like Emiko did. He had that childish awed look on his face, much like Emiko's, like he'd just been taken to a brand new place.

"Hiruma!" Kurita came running over; his foot falls booming as he went. Snapping back to reality, Hiruma turned around only to get hugged by his long time friend. Kurita, to no one's surprise, was crying.

"You're back! You're really back!" Kurita cried an amazing smile on his face.

"Kurita, you should let him breathe." Takekura reminded the excited lineman causally. Hiruma let out a loud gasp when Kurita finally let go, breathing now. Making a witty comeback was impossible after that kind of hug, so Hiruma only gave Kurita a small smack on the shoulder pads and an honest smile.

"Gotta run a fucking dash fatty," Hiruma told Kurita, "is it set up?"

"Oh, yeah, over there." Kurita pointed at the cones on the left side of the field. One of the many nameless assistant coaches was standing at the other end, clocking times. He nodded and jogged over, warming up a bit before he got clocked himself. There was a new kid, who was complaining to the assistant coach about warming up.

"-doesn't really do anything!" The guy ranted.

"How long have you been playing fucking newbie?" Hiruma asked the guy dryly before the assistant could say anything.

"Newbie!? Don't you know who I am!?" The guy turned around and roared, only to pale when he recognized Hiruma and Hiruma's disapproving frown.

"No and I don't fucking care." Hiruma answered. "Shut up, warm up, or I'll blow your sorry ass right into next Tuesday, got it fucking newbie?"

"Y-yes." The guy stood up straight and looked honestly frightened. Hiruma clicked his tongue once and went back to warming up. A few jogs up and down then stretches. He was still limber and flexible like he was in high school because he always kept up on the stretching. The other guy was warming up now too, but he was also a bundle of nerves. This led Hiruma to correctly assume he was one of the guy's role models.

"Are you ready now, Hiruma-san?" The assistant asked.

"Hell yeah." Hiruma smirked and readied himself for a sprint. He'd gotten down to 5.0 seconds before he left but he'd probably gotten slower in the years he'd been away.

**Bang!**

And with the crack of the signal pistol, Hiruma was _running_. Running on the field as a player, it made him extremely happy and light hearted. How could he have possibly forgotten how _fun_ football was?

"4.86 seconds!" The assistant cried, obviously surprised and amazed.

"What?" Hiruma marched right over. "You're shitting me!"

"N-no I timed you right." The assistant showed Hiruma the stop watch.

"That's a 1.24 second _difference_ are you fucking sure its right?" Hiruma was dreaming, he had to be!

"If he timed it right, he timed it right, Youichi-kun." Kurokawa remarked as he walked up to the two startled men. "And I believe I know just the reason as to why."

"The reason?" Both Hiruma and the assistant echoed.

"You've been chasing after a hyperactive child these past few years, does wonders to your sprinting ability." Kurokawa grinned. "Now your bench press is what'll be low and disappointing."

"Well fuck." Hiruma muttered. He had spent a great deal of time chasing after his daughter for numerous reasons. Most of them were keeping Emiko out of trouble of course.

"After your bench I want you throw passes to Kid with increasing 5 yard increments." Kurokawa told Hiruma. "Go until you can't make them or run out of field, no Hail Maries."

Hiruma nodded and jogged over to the weight room. There were two more assistants in there, one spotting and one recording. Simply going through the motions and correct warm up lifting, Hiruma did his bench press recording.

"55 kilograms." The assistant recording remarked. "You dropped 30 kilograms, better talk to the coach about that one."

"If you sweat the small stuff too much you'll go bald." Hiruma told the assistant, waving it off.

"It's good to have you back." The second assistant told Hiruma sincerely.

Hiruma only smiled and jogged back out to the field. Finding Mushanokoji tossing passes to Tetsuma, he made his way over.

"Hey brat," Hiruma got Mushanokoji's attention, "fucking Coach wants me to play pass with you."

"Well I'll be!" Mushanokoji smiled. He hadn't been expecting to see Hiruma again so soon. "Tetsuma, you should go get some of your own instructions then."

"Yes." Tetsuma ran over to Kurokawa without any trouble.

Standing five yards away, Hiruma put his hands up and wanted for the pass. Mushanokoji simply nodded and threw it normally. Hiruma caught it without issue then tossed it back.

Kurokawa watched the silent exchange as the quarterbacks threw the ball back and forth, getting more and more distance as they went. Hiruma's form was still good, he observed thankfully, and despite the drop in arm strength he seemed to not have any difficultly come the longer distances. Then there was the blessing of Hiruma's speed increase. The last six years had been excellent for him as a player. And if that water bottle and determined smile were anything to go by, probably good for him as a person too.

70 yard pass, not an easy distance do get without using a Hail Mary, Hiruma knew this. He'd been throwing his infamous Devil Laser Bullets and it seems to be working fine at getting the distance but his right shoulder's starting to protest. Faintly thinking back to how he might have injured it, Hiruma could come up with nothing immediate.

_You're too old for this, Youichi._ Chizue's voice suddenly whispered in his ear. Hiruma frowned and ignored it throwing the ball again.

The ball spun smoothly in the air, but something about its flight was disconcerting to Mushanokoji. He caught the ball and gave Hiruma a thoughtful frown. There hadn't been a loss of form, but there had been a loss of power. And Hiruma was experimentally stretching his shoulder, was he hurt?

In reality Hiruma was feeling trying to get the hands off the ghost off his shoulder. Chizue's hands were leaving burning sensations where they touched.

"L-leave me alone!" Hiruma hissed at her as he tried to make her go away.

_Then leave here._ Chizue glared back down at him. Hiruma only stared at her, like she was crazy. It was a little strange, Hiruma thought, when Chizue looked beyond him for a moment and a smile graced her features. She continued to hold him there, smiling still.

"What are you babbling about?" Hiruma hissed and pulled away, somehow tripping and crashing on the ground during this process. Turning his head around and feeling fire at his ankle, Hiruma stared at the still smiling Chizue.

_Just lay down for a minute, love, all will be well soon._ Chizue told him.

Mushanokoji could see it coming, and with wide eyes and constant screaming, he started running, trying to catch Hiruma's attention. They had been practicing along the sideline to have more accurate measuring. With the adjusting of his arm, Hiruma had managed to wander away from the sideline, past the giant number ten, and into the edge of the field where the backs were practicing running backwards before he feel. The Babies had some enormous, heavy backs that were known for their remarkable speed. And at the rate this was going they were going to trample Hiruma.

**"Hiruma!"** Mushanokoji bellowed desperately. He wasn't fast and everyone else was one the other side of the field. Surly there was someone, something watching out! It couldn't end here!

The form of help came in the form of a kicked football, soaring through the air to land near the feet of one of the counterbacks, Ikkyu specifically. The small man stumbled over the football and turned to see what had caught him, only to find Hiruma on the ground.

_**"Stop!"**_ Ikkyu yelled, managing to halt the line of bespiked feet a hair's breadth from Hiruma's still form.

Hiruma looked away from Chizue when she started frowning to look at the spike that had nearly stepped on his ear. People were calling -no screaming- his name but their words did not reach the ears of the quarterback. All he heard was Chizue's voice, sweet and simple.

_See?_

"Go away!" Hiruma hissed at her quietly. His left ring finger felt cold and overly light.

_No._

"Go away you bitch!" Hiruma bellowed, startling everyone around him, his eyes wild and growling at some phantom only he could see.

Practice, for Hiruma anyways, was ended early that day.

Having been showered and changed out of his clothes, Hiruma found himself wrapped up in a blanket, holding a cup of warm coffee in Kurokawa's office. He'd been told to say there until practice was officially over, and Hiruma had stayed. He had a splitting headache and Chizue's laughter was still echoing in his head. The worst insult was he was pretty damn sure he was insane and the team probably agreed with him.

"Youichi," Kurokawa's voice was tense, "what the fuck was that?"

Hiruma didn't answer. He didn't want to.

"…Hiruma, spit it out." Takekura demanded, his voice frustrated and angry.

"Chizue." Hiruma answered in a small, shaking voice after a moment. He then took a large swig of his coffee.

Both Takekura and Kurokawa shared a concerned look.

"You need to see a professional about this," Kurokawa told Hiruma, "and I think I know just the right guy…."

After a tense car ride, Hiruma found himself sitting in a comforting, cushy chair in front of a very confused Yukimitsu. The man still had his ridiculously large forehead and a pair of simple glasses, but other than that he had changed very little. Yukimitsu was confused because before him sat a particularly shaken and pale Hiruma. Obviously the man had experienced some kind of trauma recently…

"I'm sure there's a reason for this," Yukimitsu began, "and I'm equally sure you know exactly what that is, but don't you have a kid you should be going home to at this hour?"

"I shouldn't." Hiruma muttered. Chizue's presence hadn't ever shaken him this badly before and the last thing he wanted was Emiko to be upset and worried.

"Please call and say you're going to be home late then," Yukimitsu told Hiruma firmly, "then we can begin dealing with this."

_You're going to call that woman aren't you!?_ Chizue yelled at him, her eyes flashing. Hiruma had been startled by her and found himself dropping the cell phone on accident. She seemed really smug with this development until Hiruma's gaze was forcefully redirected at Yukimitsu's face.

"I'll make the call." Yukimitsu told Hiruma. "Who am I talking to?"

"M-mamori." Hiruma answered, trying to ignore Chizue's screams.

"And how long has this been going on?" Yukimitsu asked as he picked up the phone and started to look through the address book to find Anezaki's number.

"It started up about six years ago for a small time and it came back about six months ago…." Hiruma muttered.

"I don't think you're insane," Yukimitsu remarked honestly, "I think you've been hurt badly by someone and never got around to properly healing."

_Hurt!? How dare he accuse me of hurting-!_ Chizue roared only to have Hiruma cut her off.

"About fucking right." Hiruma answered.

"After I finish this call, why don't you tell me everything? Starting with your engagement." Yukimitsu asked. Hiruma only went stiff and Yukimitsu frowned. "I can't help you if I don't know when and where the damage was done, Hiruma. I just can't."

Looking down Hiruma shook his head again, trying to push out Chizue's screaming. Man that woman had a set of lungs on her!

"…Could you at least try?" Yukimitsu asked. "I'm sure it's too much to say after your day today but I need you to start, okay?"

"Start?" Hiruma echoed.

"Yeah, start healing."

_=_=_=_=_

And now, folks, this is the start of Chizue's real death.


	38. 35: Breaking Inside

Author's Note: Not much to say here. Other than the conversations in italics are between Hiruma and Yukimitsu in the past before this chapter took place.

Song: Breaking Insides is by Shinedown, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 35: Breaking Inside

_"Part of healing is hurting. You're going to want to shoot me at least once by the end of this, but in the end you'll feel better. Please keep that in mind before we start."_

_ "Tch."_

_ "No, really, please do Hiruma."_

_ "Why are you fucking shaking?"_

_ "Because you're the only person I know that might _actually_ shoot me."_

_ "Oh."_

The alarm is set to go off at 5:30 am, but Hiruma does not get up at this time. He slams his hand on the snooze button and dozes off for another thirty minutes. This is mostly because when his real alarm comes in and gets up, Hiruma would much rather be coming out of a light doze than a deep sleep.

Pitter-patter of tiny feet is the warning of the real alarm. It comes into his room at 6:00 am exactly then pounces onto his bed and snuggles up next to him and blows on his ear until there's an audible grunt.

"Morning Papa!" Emiko smiled. She was perky, cheery, and excited at 6:00 am, an hour Hiruma had no business being awake at. And around that time the dog would jump into the bed and start trying to lick his face. Then the damn alarm clock would go off at 6:02 am. After turning the bloody thing off, Hiruma would yawn and get out of bed, hungry puppy and child at his heels.

_"Tell me about Chizue."_

_ "Fuck, too much to say. Where the hell should I start?"_

_ "At the beginning of course."_

_ "…?"_

_ "When you first met her."_

_ "Oh." "It started with my fucking old bastard giving me a phone call-"_

_ "-I don't think that's where your problems started."_

_ "Fucking baldy?"_

_ "When did you life start to get messed up?"_

_ "…When that fucking bastard left."_

_ "Let's start there then."_

_ "But you wanted to know about fucking Chizue-!"_

_ "-I do, I really do Hiruma. But the start of your problems goes back further than her. If anything we do is going to be productive, it has to be done at the source of the matter."_

_ "You're saying that all this shit in my life steams from my father?"_

_ "It might not, we're here to find out."_

Breakfast, in the Hiruma household is usually a simple affair. Being the only adult, Hiruma starts up the rice cooker and throws some toast in the toaster. Emiko feeds Chizue and pours herself and Papa small glasses of orange juice. By this time Hiruma's had a cup of coffee and started the tea for Emiko (decaf of course).

Adding a bit of milk and fresh fruit to the rice, Hiruma makes a simple rice porridge and serves it to himself and his daughter. Emiko happily munches down her meal and asks her Papa if they have any plans for the day.

"You've got school and I have work and practice." Hiruma answered.

"Are you going to meet with Yukimitsu-san?" Emiko asked, her eyes wide and slightly worried.

"Not today." Hiruma answered.

_"-no warning, well to me at least. Don't have a clue if he told Mom or not. One day we were going to the airport and he was going off to make himself famous in America." _

_ "I see."_

_ "So I watched the news and read the papers waiting for him to become famous. Never happened. He came back two years later, hadn't sent me and Mom money so we were kind of poor."_

_ "Something happened, didn't it?"_

_ "They had a fight, only time I've seen them fight. Mom was mad, so she went out to go cool her head and he asked me to follow her-" "-She died. I watched her die!"_

Dishes were next, Emiko likes to help with this. She gets to dry all the dishes for Papa. By now it is 7:00 am, two hours until both Hiruma and Emiko are due at their respective places. This is typically when Azuma-san from next door comes over to chat with Emiko while Hiruma dashes through the shower. Once showered, shaved, and dressed, Hiruma returns to the living room and relieves Azuma-san from her duties.

By now it is about 7:35 and Hiruma gets to spend the next 25 minutes getting Emiko ready for school. Most of this time is spent brushing her fine hair and putting ribbons in it.

At 8:00 am, Hiruma drops Chizue off with his neighbors and he and Emiko leave to go to work and school. He lifts her up so that she can push the elevator button to take them down to Papa's car.

_"Did you ever talk to him about what happened?" _

_ "No."_

_ "Do it."_

_ "Fucking-!"_

_ "-This is a __**doctor's**__ order Hiruma Youichi, do you hear me?"_

_ "Y-yes…!"_

There's a repeat of the car seat conversation and they buckle in and get on their way. Hiruma drives to the school first, parking at a city park about a block away. Both of them smile happily while they chat about random things on the walk to school. Upon arrival at the school building the mothers there bombard Hiruma with questions and Emiko covers her ears. Typically Anezaki creates a diversion and rescues the two from the mothers.

"Good morning Emiko-chan." Anezaki greeted the little girl.

"'Morning Mom." Emiko smiled back shyly. Hiruma blushed a little, he always does, when Emiko said that.

"Good morning Youichi." Anezaki had taken to using his given name.

"Good morning." Hiruma was a little too embarrassed to try and say 'Mamori' that morning. Sometimes he isn't embarrassed and does address her by her given name.

"I'll see you at dinner then?" Anezaki asked.

"Of course." Hiruma huffed then knelt down and gave Emiko a hug. "You be good at school today, okay?"

"Okay Papa!" Emiko then gave her Papa a kiss on the cheek.

Hiruma waved as his baby girl scampered off to meet her friends. Saying good bye to Emiko in the mornings is hard for him. Anezaki understood this and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Have a good day at work." Anezaki wished him and also gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Yeah, yeah." Hiruma waved it off and started to walk back to his car.

_"He's still a bastard."_

_ "Yes and you look a lot better now."_

_ "What?"_

_ "You look visibly more relaxed."_

_ "Tch."_

_ "Now, please pick up where you left off."_

_ "I moved out when I was 12 and didn't talk to him for years. I met Kurita and Musashi and you know the rest of the fucking story."_

_ "No I don't. Why did you marry Chizue?"_

_ "That."_

_ "Yes, that."_

_ "It started when I got a call from my fucking old man…"_

Because of the distance from Emiko's school to the office, Hiruma always arrived about 13 minutes late to work every morning. No one minded this, though the secretaries always gave him crap about it. If they weren't flirting with him that is.

"You're always so _fashionably_ late, Hiruma-san." One the secretaries cooed at him. The way she said 'fashionably' made him want to shudder and run away, it was so sullied. But that was definitely not appropriate work conduct so Hiruma only gave them an annoyed look.

"Just buzz me in." Hiruma told her curtly. He never tried to make small talk with the secretaries.

"Takekura-sama, Hiruma-san is here." The secretary went about doing her job, knowing better than to try Hiruma when he used _that_ tone. She'd already learned from that mistake.

_"So you two agreed to this because it was convenient for both of you."_

_ "Yes."_

_ "How did you feel about it emotionally?"_

_ "Disgusted."_

_ "Did you question your actions because of that feeling?"_

_ "Many times."_

_ "And you still did it?"_

_ "I don't fucking back out of shit after I committed."_

"The elevator is ready." The secretary nodded. Due to issues in the past with drunken employees, Takekura required people to be buzzed into his floor anytime that wasn't the usual arrival times. This meant Hiruma had to be buzzed in every morning. Thankfully all Hiruma had to do was get into the elevator and it would take him straight to his boss' floor.

_"So you two were living completely separate lives and pretending to be the other's 'ghost' roommate. But how were you enforcing the 'no children' condition?" _

_ "No sex."_

_ "Makes sense, but Emiko was still conceived…."_

_ "Well it started with about a month of really regular wet dreams…."_

Having stepped out of the elevator, Hiruma walked down the hall to where Takekura's office was. As was usual, there was a nice little poster with a picture of something one wouldn't want photocopied with a little notice that said 'please do not abuse the fax machine'; and just like usual, Hiruma ripped the fucking notice down and threw it into the trash bin at his desk.

"Are you going to fucking let that go, old man!?" Hiruma demanded as he marched up to Takekura.

"No." Takekura answered, his eyes glittering with amusement. "It's not very often I get the chance to annoy you about something."

"It happened nine fucking years ago!" Hiruma growled.

"And it's still funny that it _did_ happen nine years later." Takekura justified it. He then paused a moment. "Do you kiss Emiko with that mouth?"

The resulting glare was enough to make Takekura 'eep' and decide never to bring up such a subject with his best friend ever again.

"F-forget I said anything." Takekura said quickly, hoping Hiruma would stop glaring soon. His wish was fulfilled and Hiruma's expression turned into one of annoyance.

"Tch." Hiruma clicked his tongue. "Now, where's my fucking coffee and my fucking work?"

"Coffee will be here in a moment," Takekura eyed one his personal secretaries, who then stood up to get said coffee, "and your work's on your desk."

"Tch."

_"It went away after you had sex then came back again a few months later?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "…That's not normal for someone's body to undergo a hormone unbalance like that without changing any of their other habits; so there was no reason for this to have happened from a physiological prospective, or even a chemical one. Personally I think you should have gone straight to a doctor with that."_

_ "Well it fucking happened-!"_

_ "Not denying that Hiruma, but if you really were having a hormonal imbalance doesn't it strike you as odd that it went away only _after you had sex?"

_ "…!"_

_ "Now I've had enough patients who've had drug addictions coming through my office I bothered to study up on how drugs affect the body-"_

_ "-You think I was fucking _drugged?"

_ "Yes."_

_ "By who?"_

_ "Chizue, who else?"_

"You're coffee, Hiruma-sama." The secretary offered him the cup of black coffee.

"Thanks." Hiruma muttered and took it from her.

"Is there something on your mind?" The secretary asked as Hiruma seemed a little distracted.

"No." Hiruma answered curtly and then picked up the financial documents Takekura had given him. The person who replaced him hadn't been doing that great a job. In a few years the company would have been in some pretty good trouble, thankfully Hiruma was here now to fix this before it became a problem.

_"You're making too much fucking sense."_

_ "That's part of my job, Hiruma. You're not going to like this next question either…."_

_ "What's the fucking question?"_

_ "What was sex with her like?"_

_ "Baldy!"_

_ "Don't shoot me!"_

Takekura had turned on some orchestra piece and went about making phone calls, talking to his co-workers and occasionally pestering Hiruma to see what he thought about a choice.

"Ask for another thousand." Hiruma responded.

"There a reason?" Takekura asked.

"That money needs to be stuck in the fucking bank or you're going to be sorry later." Hiruma answered.

"Oh, okay." Takekura nodded. He trusted Hiruma.

_"So now you know she's pregnant. What did you do, how did you feel?"_

_ "…Trapped. And I wanted out so fucking bad, wanted to tell her to get a fucking abortion...."_

_ "You wanted?"_

_ "She was crying."_

_ "Ah."_

_ "I brought it up later. She didn't want to kill it. I didn't think we should raise it, it's not like we fucking loved each other or anything."_

_ "How'd she react?"_

_ "She agreed, after crying."_

"-Hiruma!" Takekura all but shouted, making Hiruma jump a little.

"What!?" Hiruma snapped back, annoyed to have been startled.

"Don't be pissy at me, I've been trying to get your attention for the last three minutes." Takekura pointed out. "It's time for lunch, stop working."

"But I'm-!" Hiruma protested.

"Get away from your desk or I will kick you." Takekura told him firmly. Hiruma got out of the chair.

"Sheesh! You're such a workaholic sometimes…." Takekura muttered.

"Shut up, fucking old man." Hiruma growled.

_"What did you do next?"_

_ "I took her to a fucking prenatal doctor and they talked a long, long time. She came out and gave me a list of shit we had to buy."_

_ "That's it?"_

_ "No that's just the fucking start."_

_ "Then tell me the rest."_

After lunch, Hiruma went back to work. The only difference was that his cellphone was on the desk and within easy reach.

At 2:20 pm Hiruma gets a phone call, from Anezaki.

_"Oh Youichi, I'm just calling to tell you me and Emiko got in okay."_ Anezaki explained.

"Anything happen today?" Hiruma asked, a little worried like he always was.

_"Nothing of note-"_ Anezaki was cut off by Emiko saying something. Hiruma couldn't quite make out of the words, but he knew it was her voice.

_"She wants to talk to you."_ Anezaki explained.

"Put her on then." Hiruma answered. He'd stopped working, but no one in that office would have dared ask him to stop having this conversation on the phone.

_"Papa!"_ Emiko called happily.

"Hey." Hiruma was smiling happily. "How was your day?"

_"Lots of fun!"_ Emiko answered. _"I got to play catch with Saka-chan today!"_

"That's good." Hiruma smiled.

_"Mom says I shouldn't keep you,"_ Emiko was frowning on the other end, _"so good luck at practice today!"_

"Thanks. I love you, Emiko." Hiruma told her sincerely.

_"I love you too, Papa!"_ Emiko was smiling again. _"Bye-bye."_

"Bye." Hiruma then waited for Emiko to hang up. He hung up himself, still smiling.

"Looks like our 'Papa' is pleased." Juumonji joked.

"What do you want?" Hiruma sounded annoyed but his content expression was not easily erased. Emiko had that kind of effect on him.

"I wanted you to check the new internet system we put up, if you have a minute." Juumonji explained.

"You turned off the alarms right?" Hiruma asked as he turned on his laptop.

"Of course." Juumonji answered.

It took Hiruma about 15 minutes to successfully hack into the system.

"Hn, a 15." Hiruma answered.

"Damn," Juumonji muttered, "that's worse than last time."

"Why don't you dual boot both systems?" Hiruma suggested.

"That'd work." Juumonji nodded.

_"She really did all that?"_

_ "...."_

_ "Cry."_

_ "W-what?!"_

_ "Hiruma you look like you want to cry, it's okay. Just cry."_

_ "But-!"_

_ "Chizue isn't alive, it's not like she can judge you-"_

_ "She's still here! In my fucking head telling me things and making me do things! I can't-!"_

_ "Is she in this room right now?"_

_ "…No."_

_ "Then cry. I'll keep her away."_

Having worked solidly until 3:10 pm, Hiruma started packing up his things; him and the other football team members. They'd make their way down to the company's stadium and by 3:30 pm they'd start practice. Hiruma always worked with a group of people to make sure he was safe and in control. They had a game coming up and Hiruma was both excited and mortified about it. What if Chizue came in and attacked him during the game?

_"'Suffer as I did, you son of a bitch.'" _

_ "I think, Hiruma, you've already suffered as she had."_

_ "But why? Why did she have to fucking force that on me!?"_

_ "I think Chizue wanted you to understand her and love her."_

_ "You're out of your fucking-!"_

_ "Which only proves why she had a reason to feel that way."_

_ "…."_

_ "Now let's get back to the story, what happened after her death?"_

_ "At some point they pulled me away from the room and put Emiko in my arms. Don't remember the fucking details."_

_ "But you remember being handed Emiko."_

_ "Emiko, she-"_

_ "She what?"_

_ "-anchored me again. Like Mom used to."_

_ "I see."_

_ "What's with that fucking smirk?"_

Thankfully this practice went by without any trouble. Something everyone had been thankful for.

"How are you feeling today?" Kuirta asked as they got into the locker room.

"Fine…." Hiruma frowned, not really knowing what was prompting this question.

"You seem better." Kurita explained. "I don't know, like you're not carrying around a lot of weight or something?"

"…Maybe that's because I am." Hiruma muttered thoughtfully.

"Eh?" Kurita didn't quite follow that.

_"Well you certainly never do anything in moderation."_

_ "It's not funny."_

_ "Try laughing."_

_ "…Is this some fucking psychology trick of yours?"_

_ "Just do it Hiruma. You're the one paying for this if you hold it off."_

_ "…."_

_ "No really, you're paying me for my time to help you. Now just do it."_

_ "Ha ha."_

_ "Oh come on, I know you don't really laugh like that."_

_ "Fuck you."_

_ "Hiruma."_

_ "Fine."_

"Hiruma," Kurokawa came over and pulled Hiruma aside, "I want you to go see your psychologist before the game and get his clearance to play."

"Okay." Hiruma nodded.

"Hey, Hiruma!" Takekura called as he ran over. "Do you think you can play?"

"…I think so." Hiruma answered honestly.

"You'll be in the game then!?" Kurita smiled excitedly.

"Not until fucking baldly says I can fatty." Hiruma reminded Kurita before he could burst into tears and throw a party.

_"I want you to practice laughing about it for a bit."_

_ "Why?"_

_ "Laughter has a remarkable amount of healing properties. If you can find something funny it weighs a lot less on your mind."_

_ "So it was one of your fucking psychology tricks."_

_ "But you can't deny they aren't working, can you?"_

_ "Touché."_

"See you tomorrow." Takekura bid his goodbye.

"Don't forget about the party on Friday!" Kurita added. "Bring Emiko-chan!"

"Like hell I'm going to forget that, fucking fatty." Hiruma rolled his eyes and got in his car. It was 5:30 pm and he was heading home from work and practice.

_"I think there's one last important thing you need to do."_

_ "Only one?"_

_ "You've already fallen in love again, you've already accepted that Emiko can't stay by your side permanently, and you've begun to start looking back and laugh. But you haven't made your peace with Chizue."_

_ "She was-!"_

_ "I know what she was and what she did to you. You already told me about it. The fact of the matter is she is Emiko's mother and was your wife in life. I'm not asking you to love her or even like her, I want you to find peace with her. That's why she keeps haunting you, because you haven't found peace with her or with what she did to you."_

_ "Find peace, huh?"_

_ "Yes. Find peace."_

At 6:43 pm, Hiruma opened the door of his apartment.

"I'm home!" Hiruma called as he took his shoes off. Emiko came running over and threw herself into Hiruma's open arms.

"Welcome home, Papa!" Emiko greeted him, her face all smiles.

"Thank you." Hiruma told Emiko. "It's good to be home."

"Welcome back." Anezaki smiled. She was standing a little ways back. With a happy, loving smile Hiruma picked up Emiko and walked over to Anezaki. He kissed her quickly and softly, knowing Emiko probably didn't have the patience for anything more.

"Dinner's ready." Emiko remarked.

"Oh?" Hiruma looked at Emiko with a bemused smile.

"Yup!"

"We just finished it right before you came in." Anezaki explained.

"Then by all means, let's eat." Hiruma nodded and started to walk towards the kitchen.

"Papa, Mom said she's going to move in soon, when is 'soon'?" Emiko asked. Anezaki and Hiruma had decided they'd bring up the subject with Emiko today. Hiruma didn't know the exact date so he looked to Anezaki for an answer.

"Two weeks from this Friday." Anezaki answered.

"Really?" Emiko's eyes lit up.

"Really." Hiruma assured her.

"When are you two getting married?" Emiko asked innocently. Both adults blushed.

"We're not quite ready to be discussing that yet, Emiko." Hiruma answered.

"You're in love, isn't that everything you need?" Emiko asked.

"Emiko-chan, your Papa hasn't met my parents yet." Anezaki explained. "He has to meet them and get their approval first."

"Can't you do that tomorrow?" Emiko asked.

"Emiko, I have work tomorrow." Hiruma reminded her.

"Oh."

"I'll do it this Sunday though." Hiruma did remark. "I haven't actually spoken to your parents have I?"

"Not since that phone call in high school." Anezaki answered. "They do know about the moving in. I think they'll want to meet Emiko too."

"I get to go?" Emiko asked.

"Next time." Hiruma answered.

"Lookie Papa! We made udon!" Emiko was distracted with the dinner she'd helped with.

Hiruma smiled and tired not to turn green. He was never going to get over the gruesome images of his mother's death that the look and smell of udon always brought forth. Thankfully Yukimitsu said that was an okay thing.

_=_=_=_=_

What do you think?


	39. 36: If Today Was Your Last Day

Author's Note: This chapter got sent to the beta twice. I'm not really as pleased with it as I have been with other chapters, I hope it is good enough to please the rest of you.

Song: If Today Was Your Last Day is by Nickelback, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 36: If Today Was Your Last Day

It had been an interesting day for Hiruma Youichi. The day started with a cryptic call from Kongo Agon demanding he show his 'fucking trash ass' up at pick up after school today. Thankfully Takekura understood the situation and allowed Hiruma the afternoon off to accomplish this task.

Upon arrival at the school Hiruma was greeted with a very different scene from normal. For a start there was a limousine parked in front of the school. And for a second Kongo was standing by the gate with two large men anyone sensible would have called 'thugs'. Hiruma only blinked once and continued on his way to pick up his daughter and have the unavoidable confrontation with Kongo.

The mothers weren't whispering, they were starting, a bit frightened by Kongo's men even if Kongo was giving them delightful smiles. Now that Hiruma was a bit closer he could see that Kongo was talking.

"-ust bodyguards my ladies. I hired them to be good at protecting, not to look pretty." Kongo explained in soft tones in an attempt to calm the women down.

"Where is Hiruma-san?" Demanded another voice, male and originating from inside the limousine. So it wasn't Kongo's huh?

"Excuse me," Hiruma politely coughed from behind the so-called 'bodyguards' that were more than a little bit startled to find him there. Not that Hiruma was going to give them any slack for not noticing him being stealthy. "I need to get through."

"You showed up." Kongo remarked, his expression turning annoyed and angry; undoing all calming on the women he'd been working on for the last couple of minutes.

"Is there a reason for me to not pick up my daughter from school?" Hiruma asked, feigning confusion. He then walked past Kongo so he could have a look through the school gates. The children hadn't been dismissed just yet.

"So you are Hiruma-san." The voice came from inside the limousine. Hiruma turned around and saw a man he had never met in his life. He was a gorgeous man, perfect black hair, dark brown eyes, finely chiseled chin. And by the look of things he had a lot of money.

"I am," Hiruma admitted, "and you are?"

"Oguri Heikichi, Oguri Kimi's father." Oguri answered. The name was very familiar to Hiruma. Kimi or, as Emiko called her, 'Guri-chan' was often a subject of conversation at dinner time. Mostly because Emiko wasn't sure if Kimi was actually her friend or not because she didn't always play with Emiko like Nozomi did. So this was the young girl's single father, recent widower.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Oguri-san," Hiruma told the man pleasantly, "I have heard much about your daughter from mine."

"As have I." Oguri didn't sound like he was particularly happy about this.

Before Hiruma could decide to be unhappy or angry with that development, the school bell rang and the children came running out to find their mothers. Nozomi was at the front of the kids simply because she was just plain faster than them. She stopped though and frowned at the group of mothers, not seeing her own in the group. After a bit of thought Nozomi decided to ask Hiru-chan's Papa if he had seen her mother.

"Hey." Kongo called out to his daughter making her turn around, very surprised. "Your uncle wanted me to pick you up today." Which was code for 'pretend I work for your uncle and don't call me Dad'.

"Oh, okay." Nozomi nodded and walked over to stand next to Kongo. There was a lot more muttering from the mothers now. Obviously they hadn't been expecting that. Emiko and Kimi were coming up a bit slower. Hiruma's eyes went wide when he noticed that Emiko was limping slightly and Kimi was holding her steady.

"Papa!" Emiko looked up at Papa, her eyes a little wide. His face was funny and tight and his hands were still in his pockets, didn't he normally offer her a hug about now?

"Emiko, what happened?" Hiruma asked, pointing at her leg.

"I fell." Emiko answered, looking away and looking a bit guilty. She was a bad lair, always had been. Hiruma only frowned a bit, knowing he'd hear the full story in a minute. He turned to Kimi.

"Thank you for taking care of her." Hiruma told Kimi sincerely.

"I didn't mind, Hiruma-san." Kimi assured Hiruma as she helped hand Emiko over to him. She watched on while Hiruma insisted he have a look at Emiko's leg while the girl shook her head and looked away. She only did that when she was ashamed of something, Kimi had learned. Thankfully Hiruma didn't seem so easily distracted or persuaded by Emiko's protests. She'd be okay.

Kimi nodded then went up to the limousine. It was rare for Daddy to have time to see her.

"Daddy?" Kimi asked, a little confused. Daddy opened the car door and smiled at her.

"Hello Kimi." Oguri greeted his daughter. Kimi only smiled and gave her dad a hug.

Hiruma had finally gotten Emiko to sit down while he took her shoe off rolled up her pant leg. There was a nice wrap around it, showing that Anezaki had already tended to the wound. It was still swollen and looked like it hurt a lot.

"Emiko, did you really fall?" Hiruma asked her. Emiko looked away and nodded a little.

"…Emiko-chan, you should tell your Papa what really happened." Anezaki told the little girl with a frown of her own.

Emiko shook her head and tried not to cry. Hiruma only put her shoe back on and rolled down her pant leg.

"She what!?" Oguri cried, a little startled. He'd been asking Kimi about her day and got a very unexpected answer.

"Hiru-chan saved me." Kimi explained again in a small voice. "And she got hurt and-! I'm sorry!"

"…We went to the park today," Anezaki explained, "and some older boys wanted to make Kimi play with them. Kimi didn't want to and Emiko and Nozomi got into a fight with them trying to protect Kimi."

"What happened to the boys?" Hiruma asked.

"They got beat up and left." Anezaki answered. "But one of them came back and managed to hit Emiko's leg with a stick."

"Emiko-!" Hiruma gave his daughter a tired look. "You're not supposed to get into fights at school." Emiko only cringed and waited for the punishment only to get a hug?

"But I think protecting your friends is much more important," Hiruma told his daughter with a smile, "so you're not in trouble for this one."

Emiko only smiled and hugged Papa tightly.

Kongo was only mildly surprised to hear his daughter had beat up boys two times her age; and he wasn't surprised that she had done it alongside Emiko either. Looks like those two were just going to grow up to be trouble makers, not that Kongo minded. He was pretty sure Hiruma and Sakamoto would, but that was their problem, not his.

"We need to talk." Oguri told both Hiruma and Kongo.

"Right now, or later?" Hiruma asked.

"This Friday, six pm, at Akumetsu's. [1]" Oguri left no room for argument.

And all Hiruma could think of was that he was going to be late to his team's party.

**-that Friday, 5:50 pm, Akumetsu's-**

Kongo was already outside the bar when Hiruma arrived. He wasn't doing anything other than standing there, looking around lazily.

"You did a background check on Oguri, didn't you?" Kongo remarked as he eyed Hiruma.

"Just a basic one," Hiruma answered, "to figure out why he wouldn't approve of Emiko as his daughter's friend. Didn't find a reason but I did find out something else interesting…."

"Spit it out." Kongo demanded.

"Her late mother was Megu Tsuyumine," Hiruma explained, "the manager from Zokugaku back in high school."

"Wasn't she that lizard trash's woman?" Kongo asked.

"They broke up after college," Hiruma recounted, "I was still under the impression they were pretty close afterwards. Can't say what their relationship was like before she died."

Kongo nodded, not blaming Hiruma for being completely not up to date on this stuff.

"Are you two coming in or not?" Oguri demanded; he'd been waiting for the two of them to come inside for a while. Hiruma suppressed a snort and an eye roll. Kongo did not.

Oguri had arranged for them to have a private room, to talk of course. Personally Hiruma thought this whole ordeal was a little overkill but, he wasn't paying, so he wasn't caring. Kongo thought the entire thing was stupid. Oguri sat down and looked at both of the other men in the room with a frown.

"I don't like the influence your daughters have been having on mine." Oguri told them.

"You're talking to the wrong parent, trash." Kongo yawned. "I don't raise Zomi, that's Natsumi's job."

"And what," Hiruma asked, his voice cold, "is wrong with the influence Emiko has had on your daughter?"

"She's _your_ daughter for a start-!" Oguri began only to have Hiruma cut him off.

"-But she _isn't_ me." Hiruma reminded him. "Emiko's a lot more straightforward than I am, all she wants is a friend. A friend she'll get into a fight and defend, or did you not remember Kimi-chan telling you that?" He was pissed of course. He'd been helping Emiko nurse that nasty bruise everyday this last week. It would be impossible for him to forget the pained expressions and her tears when he touched that wound-!

"And it's not like I'm going to let some guy with money decide who my little girl chooses as a friend." Kongo told Oguri. "If Zomi likes Kimi, then Zomi is allowed to be her friend."

"Besides is it really proper of you as a parent to choose your child's friends?" Hiruma asked. Oguri was not going to be cut any slack today.

"Kimi is going to be living in high society one of these days, she can't be running around being influenced by little heathens like yours-!" Oguri got cut off by Kongo.

"-So why did you send her to the public kindergarten?" Kongo demanded.

"My wife-!" Oguri protested only to have Hiruma cut him off.

"I knew your wife," Hiruma began, startling Oguri, "she was a hard, firm woman that wasn't afraid of getting roughed up to get things done."

Oguri was really quiet. Kongo only looked at Hiruma, mildly surprised.

"She asked that Kimi attend school under Anezaki Mamori's teaching specifically, didn't she?" Hiruma asked despite the fact he already knew the answer. The answer was yes.

"I think your wife wanted your daughter to have some real friends growing up, not the superficial stuff shit she's going to have later in life," Hiruma explained, "and from what I can tell is that Emiko and Nozomi are being those real friends for your daughter."

Hiruma stood up and walked over to Oguri.

"Don't make a mistake here," Hiruma warned him, "because this will be one of those things you can _never_ take back."

Oguri was, well, speechless. His wife, back when she was alive, had told both him and Kimi stories from high school. The football league had been full of all sorts of interesting characters. The impression Oguri had had of Hiruma was that the man was a bat-shit crazy loose cannon. Clearly that wasn't the case. He was in so much control that he controlled the situation. Remarkably, Hiruma was also appearing to be a very protective and loving father, something Oguri hadn't imagined at all.

Habashira had warned him that Hiruma was too large an opponent for him. Habashira had been completely right.

"Any other fucking questions?" Hiruma asked, smirking and smug because he had clearly just won the confrontation.

"I'm still not comfortable with this." Oguri grumbled.

"Then what is your regret, trash?" Kongo asked.

"Regret?" Oguri blinked.

"Live life with no regrets, live each day like it was your last," Hiruma had caught onto Kongo's meaning, "and go against the flow of the common people. That's how we live, that's how our daughters live, that's, I think, how Kimi-chan wants to live."

"Do you have the balls to live like that, fucking money?" Hiruma asked Oguri.

"You mean you live each day like it's your last!?" Oguri gasped.

"I'm a Yakuza, trash," Kongo pointed out, "it's the _only_ way to live in that business."

"I've nearly died enough times," Hiruma confessed, "and nearly lost everything enough fucking times I've chosen to live that way."

"What?" Oguri stared.

"You're not the only widower in this room, fucking money." Hiruma left it at that.

Oguri then remembered how upset and distressed Kimi had been when her mother died. Emiko had saved her from that despair and now Oguri knew why.

"I'm just scared." Oguri muttered lamely.

"Who isn't?" Hiruma gave him a sympathetic look. "Children are fucking scary."

"We done being mushy and touchy feely now? I've got shit to do tonight." Kongo announced as he stood up. He was bored with this entire thing.

"You may go." Oguri dismissed them.

"Perk up a smile," Hiruma told Oguri before he left, "for Kimi."

And Oguri was speechless again.

**-Hiruma's apartment, 7:40-**

Hiruma was damn sure he missed the party as he rode the elevator up. He kind of felt sorry for Juumonji and his girlfriend, since the two had been babysitting while Hiruma had this heart-to-heart with Kimi's father. And because Hiruma missed the party, they did too.

Upon arriving at his floor, the elevator door opened and Hiruma smelled something he was very familiar with: gunpowder. A bit alarmed to be smelling that in his hallway, Hiruma rushed out of the elevator and down the hall, a sick feeling growing in his stomach.

The door of his apartment had been broken down. Signs of struggle littered the hallways and then there were the ominous bullet holes in the walls.

"No…!" Hiruma muttered, his eyes wide with shock and fear. This wasn't really happening. He was not about to walk into an apartment where he might find his daughter's corpse.

A faint whine from Chizue was enough to snap Hiruma back into reality.

"Oye!" Hiruma called into the apartment, looking for people. He found Juumonji's girlfriend unconscious on the floor of his living room. She'd been beaten.

"Juumonji!" Hiruma yelled. Where was he? Where was that damn dog!?

Running through the apartment he found Chizue in his bedroom, on his half-destroyed bed. She'd been cut with a knife. A shallow, but painful looking wound. Gathering up Chizue in his arms he went and found Juumonji starting to come to on his kitchen floor. He looked mauled for the lack of a better word.

For a minute Hiruma could only stand there and stare. His eyes were wide and his skin was pale and chilled. As brilliant as a man he was, he could not wrap his mind around the horrible reality of the situation. Emiko was no where to be found and her babysitters were both beaten and in need of medical attention.

Chizue bit his hand and dragged him back into reality.

Thoughts went flying through his mind. He was trying to plan, trying to understand, trying to make him move. He had to do something, he had to find Emiko, he had to have answers, he had to get moving, he had to get Juumonji help. Finally he realized he needed to be talking in all this thinking he'd been doing.

"What happened?" Hiruma demanded, trying not to explode from all thoughts that shook his body.

"They took her." Juumonji answered. He was breathing heavily and pained. Each word was an effort.

"Who!? Where!?" Hiruma's voice was cracking under the emotional stress. His mind was just spinning at high speeds thinking up nothing. Everything in Hiruma's life was hinging on this answer-!

"Don't know."

_=_=_=_=_

Plot twist~!

[1]- Akumetsu means evil killer. In this story it's a bar.


	40. 37: Headstrong

Author's Note: My beta, bless her heart, happened to have gotten this just before finals week. And being the sane person she was, she elected to wait and alter it after finals were past, something I totally encourage. I would like to warn you that this chapter isn't like the others and it's really high-strung and tense. I hope you'll read it despite the warning.

Song: Headstrong is by Trapt, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 37: Headstrong

Emiko was missing.

The apartment was a wreck.

Chizue had been hurt.

Juumonji didn't know the people responsible.

Juumonji failed to protect Emiko.

He was sorry.

He passed out from pain.

Shit.

No. Fuck.

This situation was all fucked up.

"God fucking dammit!" Hiruma roared, his mind finally stopped processing and started reacting. He was _pissed_ and _worried_ beyond reason right now. Forcing himself to calm down, he got into the gun safe and started to load up, Hiruma thought about what he had to do next.

Juumonji needed an ambulance, the police needed to be called, the fucking old hag needed to be called and told what was happening, and fuc- Anezaki needed to be called. Or did she? Was there someone else he needed to be thinking about right now?

What next?

_"Hello?"_ Kongo Unsui answered the phone sounding a little weary and baffled.

"Hey fucking cop," Hiruma greeted the twin, "some people broke into my apartment, beat up my babysitters, trashed my place, and took my kid."

Chizue whined.

"And attacked my dog." Hiruma added.

_"W-when was this?"_ Kongo asked, sounding confused and alarmed.

"Between 5:30 and 7:40 this evening." Hiruma answered.

_"I'll be down right away."_ Kongo assured him. Hiruma nodded and hung up before he could hear the 'wait there for me'.

Dialing the ambulance was pretty uneventful. Hiruma had spent the call bandaging up Chizue.

Azuma, the lady next door, looked really frightened about something when she answered the door.

"H-hiruma-san?" Azuma asked, concerned.

"Please watch Chizue for me." Hiruma asked her, his voice calm and his face blank.

"What was that noise?" Azuma asked as she took the small dog from Hiruma's hands.

"I'm going to go find out." Hiruma told her cryptically and left, leaving a confused and worried woman in his wake. Kongo Unsui would only add to this when he arrived 20 minutes later trying to figure out what happened by showing her the state of her neighbor's home.

Hiruma on the other hand was expressionless, almost emotionless. He had decided already that he was going to be the only one capable of hunting his child down, but getting a little bit of help would make the entire process much quicker and time right now was very, very valuable.

"Fucking old man," Hiruma greeted his friend, "I need you to get on my account and load up the file called 'hit list'."

_"Uh, wasn't that supposed to be a joke?"_ Takekura asked sounding unsettled. Rightfully so, Hiruma usually swears. All the same, one could hear typing sounds in the background on Takekura's end.

"Read it off when you get it up." Hiruma told Takekura, ignoring the question entirely. It had been a joke Toganou had insisted everyone at the office do; make a hit-list of all your enemies. Hiruma had actually chosen to take it seriously because he does have real enemies that he needed to keep track of for Emiko's sake. He wouldn't have asked Takekura to look it up if it hadn't been for the fact his laptop had destroyed in the attack. Well the hard disk hadn't been destroyed and Hiruma had grabbed it before he left but it wasn't terribly useful to him right now.

_"Hiruma, what is going on?"_ Takekura demanded as he typed furiously. His friend was acting way too weird. He sounded distant and toneless, as if exerting emotion was going to distract him from something important.

"Just read the list." Hiruma told Takekura firmly. He knew Takekura would stop working and be upset if he heard the news, it would have to wait until Hiruma had the information he needed.

_"…Got it up."_ Takekura announced, not having bothered to disguise how upset this situation was making him. _"Saburo Haruka- wait isn't she your mother-in-law?!"_

Saburo Haruka, wife of Saburo Teru, mother of Saburo Chizue. A very demanding woman who does anything to get her way, her husband seems to keep the worst of her demands away and be a voice of reason.

That's what the Threat Notebook said about her. Hiruma could recall that. He also knew that she probably had dementia and somehow became convinced that Hiruma was the worst thing to have happened to her granddaughter-!

"Shit." Hiruma muttered. Of course the fucking old hag had Emiko kidnapped! That's who most kidnappers were, people who thought they had to raise a child because where the child was wasn't the best place for them-!

_"Hiruma?"_ Takekura asked.

"Fucking old hag has Emiko." Hiruma told his friend curtly and hung up. He wasn't going to bother calling Saburo this time, oh no, he was going to visit her in person.

And kill her for this.

Driving aggressively and speeding, but not recklessly, Hiruma tore through the streets, making even police officers pull to the side to let him pass. It didn't occur to Hiruma that Kongo had probably called them off, he was too busy thinking up ways to inflict serious harm on Saburo's person and keep her alive at the same time. She was going to go nice and slowly for this. Nice and slow.

To his surprise, Anezaki was standing outside of the Saburo residence, looking really nervous. Hiruma only got out of the car and walked past her, she was quick on the uptake and could prove to be useful to have around right now.

"Hiruma what's happen-!?" Anezaki was cut off by Hiruma taking out a gun and shooting the lock off the door. He didn't really have the patience for checking or picking locks.

"Saburo!" Hiruma bellowed into the home. "Where are you?!"

Anezaki could only stare, wide-eyed and follow quietly. Takekura had called her earlier and told her to high tail it over to the Saburo household before Hiruma got there.

_"He's out for blood." Takekura had told her. "Please stop him from doing something he might regret!"_

In the end there had been almost nothing in her power she could do about this. His expression was calm yet disattached from reality, his eyes were on fire with something primal and dangerous, and he was completely ignoring everything that didn't have to do with getting Emiko back.

This included thinking about the consequences.

Feeble coughing was the answer to Hiruma's demand. The demonic man marched right to the source of the sound, Anezaki following right behind him worriedly. The coughing was coming from the sickly form of Saburo Teru, who had been left unattended in his fragile state. He looked like he was about to die.

"Where's your wife?" Hiruma demanded curtly, not seeming to notice the amount of suffering this man was in.

Saburo coughed and hacked a bit more and let out an almost inaudible plea for water. Hiruma growled and was about to take a weapon to the old man's face when Anezaki's hand stopped him.

"He can't talk, let me get him some water." Anezaki reminded Hiruma, praying he would listen.

"Tch." Hiruma glared at her then at the old man. With a sigh of relief, Anezaki went and helped Saburo drink a little bit of water.

"Where's Haruka?" Saburo asked, worried. "Why did she leave?"

"She didn't tell you anything." Hiruma frowned, it wasn't a question.

"Bring her back, Youichi. She's not herself-!" The old man was cut off by Hiruma leaving the room. He then fell into another coughing fit.

"Saburo-san!" Anezaki called to the man worriedly.

"Haruka, Haruka was supposed to take me to the hospital, yes the hospital today." Saburo explained. "I have to go."

"I'll get you there." Anezaki promised. "Which hospital?"

"Joukamachi Hospital." Saburo answered [1].

That's when Anezaki heard the loud clanging noises from another room.

"Can you stay here a moment?" Anezaki asked the old man softly. He nodded.

Wandering through the house Anezaki found Hiruma to be the source of the noise. He was doing something to the computer, having taken it apart. He had wires in one hand and a large disk thing in another. Asking him what he was doing wasn't going to be of much help, so Anezaki instead went into the kitchen to watch Takekura pull up and rush up the walk.

Of course he would come and try to help tame Hiruma, Anezaki realized, he just couldn't have gotten there before she did.

"Musashi," Anezaki greeted him, "Hiruma's beyond reason right now." Anezaki couldn't call him 'Youichi', not when he acted like this…!

Takekura's expression turned more serious. He wasn't surprised to hear that. Not saying anything, he went through the house and found Hiruma at the computer. There was a slight pause.

"Hiruma, what the hell are you doing?" Takekura demanded.

"Figuring out who the hag hired." Hiruma answered. He'd finished messing with the computer and had turned it on. Takekura was confused momentarily when he saw images of Hiruma's apartment on the screen. Then he recalled that Hiruma kept constant surveillance on his apartment to take pictures of Emiko when she was being cute. Takekura did not get the time to explore how creepy that was when he started watching what Hiruma was playing.

Hiruma was looking at movies of Emiko's kidnapping as it unfolded. Anezaki only watched on in horror as men that could only be described as thugs were taking out guns and shooting at Emiko. The little girl burst into screams and tears and ran into her father's bedroom.

Juumonji and his girlfriend had tried to protect her and got themselves overwhelmed by the amount of men and firepower of the attackers.

Once the babysitters fell, the attackers moved into the back bed room and shot at the bed, where Emiko had been hiding underneath. She came out and tried to fight, but was far too easily manhandled, restrained, and gagged. At one point one of the men started threatening Chizue with a knife to try and make the panicking girl more cooperative. Chizue got spooked and cut herself on the knife in an attempt to escape….

It was horrible to watch. These men- they didn't care if someone died.

"Oh god…!" Anezaki muttered. She couldn't even begin to guess what was going through Hiruma's head right now.

"Tch."

"Hiruma?" Takekura asked in a whisper.

A few purposeful key strokes later and the screen was covered in documents. Anezaki couldn't keep up with the speed at which Hiruma was scrolling through them.

"Takekura," Anezaki whispered, "could you take Saburo-san to the hospital?"

"…Why me?" Takekura asked.

"…A feeling I have," Anezaki confessed, "I-I think I need to stay by his side right now." It wasn't something she could describe. Despite the insanity Hiruma was clearly exhibiting, she felt drawn to him, to his side. She felt like she was driving a car that was about to crash and all she could do was sort of steer it before the inevitable collision with the wall. Yet she wanted to steer it, she wanted to stay in that car despite the fact it was on fire. She was trapped by the power that was Hiruma Youichi.

"I can't guarantee that I can get there in time but," Takekura told Anezaki as he started to leave the room, "call me if you need an extra hand."

"I will." Anezaki nodded and watched Takekura leave only to hear the screech of Hiruma's chair. He had stood up, his eyes staring at something on the screen.

"Youichi?" Anezaki asked tentatively.

All he did was slowly turn around and show her his murderous expression. He was going to kill someone. And as he walked past her Anezaki realized she couldn't reach him anymore. But she wasn't going to stop or give up; she was going to see this to the end, at his side.

"Hiruma let me drive." Anezaki told him.

"No." Hiruma dismissed her as he kept walking forward.

"If you drive you'll go fast. If you get into an accident then all will be lost," Anezaki explained, "and-and the police might follow us then those people will know you're coming."

Hiruma stopped and considered her answer for a moment.

"Fine."

Moments later they were on the road and driving to some destination only Hiruma knew. His directions were spoken with words curt and cold. If Anezaki hadn't been so focused on the road, she would have observed that Hiruma's face had gone calm.

Like the calm before the storm.

Their destination proved to be a nice, quiet house in a suburban area not too far from Oujou High School. There was nothing remarkable about the house or the street it was on. Anezaki frowned.

"Is this the right place?" Anezaki asked, a little unsure.

Hiruma said nothing and stepped out of the car, pulling out a rocket launcher and firing it at the door. Crying in terror Anezaki could only stare as she watched the entire front porch of this seemingly innocent house exploded into hundreds of pieces. A cloud of dust and debris flew into the air and when it all settled, she could see several men with guns.

They were thugs, thugs just like the ones that took Emiko.

"Where is Emiko?" Hiruma demanded, his expression unreadable.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Wrong answer. Hiruma pulled out his guns and opened fire, heartlessly mowing down these men before they had a chance to use their own weapons.

"H-Hiruma!" Anezaki cried and got out of the car. Hiruma ignored her and climbed up into the house, firing at anyone he saw. Electing not to follow, Anezaki went and examined the bodies.

"He still…." Anezaki muttered, amazed. Hiruma Youichi was using non-lethal bullets, just like he always had. That didn't mean he didn't fire off enough rounds to knock these people out. It was a relief to know he hadn't killed anyone yet.

'Yet' being the operative word.

Anezaki stood up and returned to the car, shaking slightly. Following Hiruma right now was dangerous and part of her knew they weren't going to find Emiko at this house.

The car door slammed shut. Hiruma was dirtier, covered in a light layer of plaster dust and blood. The only words he had to say was their next destination. With an unsteady nod, Anezaki started the car and drove it to another equally unremarkable house in an equally unremarkable place. Again she watched Hiruma blow up a door and open fire at people as he walked into the building, demanding to know where Emiko was. Again he came back, even dirtier.

He gave her directions to another destination.

"W-who are these people?" Anezaki asked as she waited at a stop light.

"Yakuza." Hiruma answered.

**-at an undisclosed location-**

"Two bases completely taken down in less than an hour," Sakamoto Natsumi observed from her home computer, "someone's out for your blood."

"Shit." Kongo Agon hissed. He went straight to Sakamoto when he got the call about the first base being under attack. She was an excellent hacker on top of being an assassin and, despite having left the life, she still kept an eye out for him, for Nozomi's sake.

"Mom?" Nozomi called as she walked into the room to see Dad was there too. They looked really serious about something.

"Zomi, there are some bad things happening right now," Sakamoto explained with a tired smile, "Dinner's going to have to wait until we get to a safe place."

"O-okay." Nozomi nodded. This isn't the first time this has happened.

"You can have dinner with me." Kongo assured her with one of his charming smiles. Nozomi's face lit up happily. It was very rare for her to get to eat with both of her parents.

"You're the best!" Nozomi smiled and hugged Dad.

"We have to get going right now though." Sakamoto reminded the two.

"Yeah, let's get going." Kongo nodded seriously and drove them over to one of his secret safe houses.

Kongo was going to find out who the hell this guy was and take him down personally. No, wait, kill him personally. No one puts his baby girl in danger.

No one.

_=_=_=_=_

You like?

[1]- This is the Hospital in the series where Musashi's dad is at and Sakuraba when he hurt his collar bone. It also has Head Nurse Oka.


	41. Holiday Special! Omake Chapter!

Author's Note: This was written for glassdarkly of LJ as a Christmas present. This is in the past of the story, when Nozomi was a baby and toddler. It's just a little view into the life of Agon as a father. This is also my holiday present for everyone here to supply some fluff to break up the intense scenes we've been having as of late. I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday.

Song: This was not titled with a song. Brothers is simply the story name.

Brothers

Agon Kongo and Unsui Kongo are identical twins. If they wore the same hair cut and dressed in the same clothes, you could not tell them apart. Typically, identical twins are very similar people, having the same likes and dislikes but these two boys couldn't be any more different.

Unsui had a beautiful wedding.

Agon is crashed said wedding.

Unsui does not have any children, but doesn't mind this.

Agon is unmarried with a kid.

Unsui is a police officer.

Agon is the head of a yakuza group.

Unsui lives in an apartment in a safe neighborhood.

Agon lives in one of four mansions.

Unsui does everything legally.

Agon can't remember the last day he didn't break a law.

Unsui is organized and plans things in advance.

Agon often drops his girl off at her uncle's without warning.

The wife of Unsui is a manga-ka.

The mother of Agon's child is an ex-assassin.

The wife of Unsui is a beautiful woman, who is kind and gentle.

The mother of Agon's child is also beautiful, but she's also a ruthless killer.

What made these brothers so different?

It probably had to do with the fact there is a difference between them. With the fact they aren't actually identical.

Agon was blessed with amazing reactions and powerful physical ability. Unsui, who busted his ass over blood, sweat, and tears, is only pretty good. This difference caused a major rift between the two brothers, making them stray from being alike to becoming opposites. And it remained this way for years.

Until Agon met Nozomi for the first time.

Holding that crying child in his arms had scared Agon because despite his genius, he didn't know what to do. So, for the first time ever, he called upon his brother for help. At about 4am which wound up waking Karin after Unsui cried out in surprise at the news he was, in fact, an uncle. And since Karin was awake, she demanded pictures of her little niece.

It turned out that Natsumi, the mother of Agon's child, had been very insistent that Agon keep out of Nozomi's life. This was to keep Nozomi safe from other yakuza gangs and to allow her to lead a normal life growing up. So when Agon asked Natsumi if her girl's uncle and aunt could stop by the response hadn't been… pleasant.

And by not pleasant we mean the conversation kind of ended with Agon on the ground, beaten within an inch of his life and Natsumi's foot on his throat.

"Why did you tell him?" Natsumi demanded, holding the sleeping baby as far away from Agon as she could.

"For help?" Agon answered in a small, uncharacteristically uncertain voice.

"Help?" Natsumi's frown deepened.

"She was crying, I didn't know what to do!" Agon pleaded. "You wanted to sleep and-!"

Natsumi sighed and took her foot off his throat.

"Since this can't be undone," Natsumi remarked with distaste, "I suppose we're going to have to figure something out now."

"My brother is a police officer," Agon explained quickly, knowing Natsumi didn't know this information, "he can keep Nozomi safe…!"

"Agon, how many cops have we killed?" Natsumi asked.

"…."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

It didn't help when Unsui came to visit his younger brother in person a few days later that Karin had come too.

"Eh?" Agon blinked, he was half hung over and kind of running on lack of sleep from the pain of the wounds Natsumi had left him. What a woman-!

"So where is she!?" Karin asked, in her arms was a pink bag. "Where's my little Zomi-chan!? I brought her gifts-!"

"Sorry, I couldn't stop her." Unsui apologized.

"Nah, it's cool. Maybe Natsumi can use some of this shit." Agon remarked as he went through what was in the bag. He had used his super athletic abilities to nab it out of Karin's hands without anyone noticing until they realized he was going through it. Natsumi was trying her best to be a good mother, but she was new to the job and on top of that she didn't have much recollection of her own mother taking care of her. So her baby equipment was kind minimal. Not that Agon really knew a lot about taking care of babies or the proper equipment; he just knew she had very little.

Karin was trying to look past the brothers into the house. She wanted to see and hold the baby. Agon and Unsui both knew the baby wasn't at Agon's home, that's absurd, the baby is busy driving her mother up the wall with her wailing at her mother's house.

"Can I see her?" Karin asked.

"She's not here." Agon told Karin bluntly. Karin frowned.

Karin then frowned the frown that would make Unsui run for the hills. Under the glare of this frown, Agon started to look a little nervous.

"Then why don't we go visit her? I want to see my niece." Karin smiled that 'no is not an option' smile. "Please."

"Uh, sure." Agon rubbed the back of his head, having a very, very bad feeling about this if the increased ache in his bruises was anything to go by.

Against his better judgment and the agreement he had made with Natsumi, Agon drove his older brother and sister-in-law to visit his baby girl and her mother. Of course, Karin and Unsui were bursting with questions about the mother.

"How did you meet her?" "What's she look like?" "Are you two going to get married?" "What's she do for a living?"

Agon answered the questions in the way he typically handles these things.

"Ran into her." "You'll see when you meet her." "Ask her that." "Ask her that."

Which translates to being evasive. This only made Karin and Unsui grumpy and it annoyed Agon.

"Look, Natsumi isn't going to want you to interrogate her," Agon told them sharply, "she's picky when she wants me around and I _know_ she's not going to be thrilled with our showing up on her doorstep."

"…Agon," Unsui began as they went up Natsumi's front walk, "was she someone you knew from your job?"

Agon didn't answer and rang the doorbell. Loud screaming followed by a loud 'fuck!' could be heard from the other side of the front door. That's when Agon saw the 'knock or I'll shoot you' sign on the front door. Shit, Natsumi might actually shoot him for this one.

Natsumi opened the door looking absolutely murderous when Karin shoved Agon into the nearby wall.

"Hello, I'm Kongo Karin. You must be Sakamoto Natsumi," Karin introduced herself with a charming smile, "I'm sorry we woke the baby, would you like me to help put her back down?"

Natsumi looked at the woman for a moment, rather confused. She didn't know the name of Agon's sister-in-law, but it looked like this might be her. Oh that had to be Unsui in the back behind her with the slightly upset and freaked out smile.

"I brought somethings for Nozomi-chan," Karin held up her bag of baby goodies. "I hope you don't mind."

"No I don't, come in." Natsumi saw the blanket peeking out of the bag. She was having issues staying mad at Karin, so she let the three in. Immediately Karin left the gift bag with Natsumi and went over to Nozomi to pick up the baby and start shushing her. Agon and Unsui shared a confused look then watched as Natsumi walked over to Karin with her face full of awe.

"C-can you teach me how to do that?" Natsumi asked.

"Oh sure." Karin smiled.

Needless to say, Natsumi quickly changed her tune about Uncle Unsui and Auntie Karin coming to visit. Karin gave her nurturing coaching and showed her how to shop for better things for the baby (and by things we mean anything from toys to play pens to diapers and bottles). Unsui thought Nozomi was adorable and held her with more confidence than her father did. Agon was delighted to have more excuses to see Nozomi, since he was totally in love with that baby.

Nozomi grew up surrounded by Mom, Dad, Uncle, and Auntie. She didn't mind, she thought she had the best life ever. Auntie Karin was really nice and would play dress up with her, Mom was a bit more stubborn but she tired really, really hard, Dad was kind of a spaz sometimes but he always played with her, and Uncle had the most awesome car ever!

The most amazing thing was that Agon and Unsui spent more time together than they had in years because of Nozomi. They were both, in a sense, learning how to be fathers and family men together. They both discovered they still had the same likes and dislikes in food, they both had the same opinions about what should be done with Nozomi's future, and they both loved Nozomi dearly.

"That's the first time I've ever seen those two play football together and actually have fun." Karin observed.

"That's the first time I've ever seen them act like twins." Natsumi observed as she sipped her rose tea. She adored Karin since the girl had been such a wonder in turning her from being a killer and into a reasonable mother. Well fairly reasonable, she did teach Nozomi some basic 'self defense' that allowed the talented young girl to beat up any boy she'd ever meet.

"I'm glad," Karin confessed, "Unsui always regretted his relationship with Agon-kun."

"…Agon had his regrets too, he's just terrible at admitting such things." Natsumi pointed out. She knew Agon best. If their lives had been different she might have married the man, but as of right now she wasn't going to consider it in a million years. She was out of the life and Nozomi was safe. Marrying Agon wasn't going to help that, maybe when Nozomi was older she could…..

"She's walking!" The twins cried, amazed.

Sure enough little Nozomi was trotting across the grassy backyard with a happy giggle.

"I think Nozomi was the best thing that happened to them." Karin smiled.

"She's the best thing that happened to all of us." Natsumi agreed.

"So, Karin-chan," Natsumi began, "when are you going to have a baby?"

_=_=_=_=_

There you go! Merry Christmas!


	42. 38: You're Gonna Go Far Kid

Author's Note: As a warning, people die in this chapter. Hiruma does some bad, bad things. Most of this story is PG-13, but this chapter is very, seriously, rated R.

Song: You're Gonna Go Far Kid is by The Offspring, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 38: You're Gonna Go Far Kid

Hiruma Youichi was picking a fight with some yakuza group and, so far, winning. Anezaki Mamori was both his accomplice and conscience. But far more importantly she was his driver and his only hold onto sanity. Right now she found herself doing things she couldn't have imagined herself ever doing.

"Hiruma, are your guns properly cleaned and tuned?" Anezaki asked him. The only thing keeping him from getting killed in these ventures was that he attacked quickly and relentlessly. If those guns failed right now, he'd die.

Not verbally responding, Hiruma took out a cleaning kit and started to clean over the massive amount of artillery he had. Once a weapon was clean, he set it in her backseat to make room for another on his lap.

"Why don't you reload them while you're at it?" Anezaki suggested. Faster clicking sounds was her answer. With careful, but quick, precision, Hiruma tore through cleaning his guns. Once he finished he started to take them from the back seat and reload them as he tucked them back away on his person.

_What are you doing?_ Chizue asked, looking confused and frantic.

"Saving our daughter from yakuza." Hiruma curtly answered. He hadn't reacted to the fact Chizue was there.

"Who are you talking to?" Anezaki asked, confused by the random comment.

"Chizue."

It took all of the power in Anezaki had to keep the car from going out of control and wrecking. Chizue hadn't been haunting him for over a month now-!

_But she's in a better place-!_ Chizue was cut off by Hiruma's glare.

"You have no right to tell me that," Hiruma told Chizue curtly, "Emiko's place is by my side." He pointed a cold, black gun at her.

"And if you're going to be in my way, I'll just kill you." Hiruma told her with a smile and serious eyes. Clearly the fact he was insane didn't seem to be bothering him at this time. Chizue started to back away, scared by the changes this event had brought upon him.

"Don't shoot at my windshield, Hiruma," Anezaki reminded him, "I need it to see so we don't wreck."

Almost robotically, Hiruma just turned back around and finished the task of reloading his weapons. Anezaki said nothing as she continued to drive through the streets as they got scummier and grubbier. Normally she stayed far away from these parts of the city, but with everything that was going on she simple accepted this as what they were doing next.

"Next intersection, left turn." Hiruma told her as he turned back around, having finished. Chizue was gone.

Good one less distraction.

Anezaki made the turn and actively started to ignore the people she saw on the streets. Prostitutes, drugies and their dealers, and homeless bums littered the streets. These people were sad, broken shadows of whoever they had been born to be. Hiruma didn't see them either, he only saw the club up ahead.

"Stop here." Hiruma instructed and Anezaki stopped the car. He unbuckled his safety belt and was about to get out when Anezaki reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Come back." Anezaki ordered him. "Come back alive."

Not responding with expression or sound, Hiruma pulled his hand away and walked briskly into the establishment ahead of him. It might not be apparent where he kept his weapons, but two semi-automatic machine guns were a finger's breadth from his hands for easy access.

The bouncer was some tall, gruff guy Hiruma faintly recognized as having attended Zokugaku High School and University. Hiruma only looked at the man, not at all intimated by the fact he was almost three head sizes shorter than the guy.

"I need to talk to the manager." Hiruma told the man with lots of teeth.

Judging by the surprise and fear on the man's face, he recognized Hiruma. With a nervous nod he led Hiruma inside and shut the doors behind them. They opened outwards, Hiruma observed; good that means getting out won't be needlessly annoying. They passed the dance floor, the bar, and the pleasure rooms to enter an area so full of tobacco smoke, one could see it as a fog. Hiruma held back a sneeze and continued his way in, not really caring he was breathing poisonous air.

The manager turned out to be a small man with wiry muscles and a cigar in his mouth. Not to mention the almost cliché scar on his face.

"What is it, Hebii?" The manager growled, annoyed by the disturbance.

"You have a guest." Hebii answered and retreated from the room.

"A guest? Hey where the fuck are you goi-!?"

**Bang!**

Hiruma silenced the manager with a bullet just past his head. There had been some murmuring coming in through the walls, now there was nothing.

"Where is Emiko?" Hiruma demanded in a voice that was eerily calm.

"E-Emiko?" The manager gasped. Did they have a girl around here by that name? No? Yes? Shit! He didn't know.

"Yes, Hiruma Emiko, my daughter." Hiruma explained in a soothing, but mortifying, voice.

"I've never met anyone named that." The manager managed to get his wits about him long enough to pull his own gun out from the drawer it was in. "And it doesn't matter because you're not going to get out of here-"

**Bang!**

Hiruma fired a wax bullet between the eyes. It wouldn't kill the man, but it would hurt like a son of a bitch and probably crack his skull. The demonic quarterback didn't give a shit though. He didn't really care that the door behind him blew open and several angry mobsters stood behind him.

"Have you seen my little girl?" Hiruma asked them as he turned around, bigger guns in his hands.

"What the fuck?" Wrong answer.

Hiruma's slightly hopeful expression turned into a disapproving frown after he opened fire on these annoyances. He aimed for the chests and arms, knocking their guns aside. Bullets were everywhere and the thugs scrambled trying to find some relief from the amount of ammunition flying their way. Several just started to run, screaming something about a devil as they fled. Hiruma just mowed them down from behind instead, not really caring how much damage he was doing. He broke people's bones left and right, cracked a few skulls, and kept a solid pace towards the exit. The only time the seemingly unstoppable machine he was would stop was to turn to the side to shoot down some idiots who had the balls to try and get him from behind.

Bodies, unconscious or in severe pain, littered the floors. Hiruma only walked over them, not being courteous enough to actively not step on them. Upon his reentry into the pleasure portion of the establishment, Hiruma could see the signs of chaos his gun fight had caused. People were running around, terrorized and confused.

Not his problem.

The dance floor had exploded, people were screaming and attacking each other in the panic.

Not his problem.

He stepped over a few corpses of those who had been trampled in the panic.

Not his problem.

"What the hell did you do?" Hebii asked as Hiruma walked outside.

"Do you know where my little girl is?" Hiruma demanded, his eyes on fire.

"Uh, no. Sorry!" Hebii answered quickly. It was a disappointing answer despite being right.

"Tch."

Hiruma got back into the car.

"Turn around." Hiruma instructed.

Anezaki said nothing and started to turn the car around. She didn't know what happened in there but judging from the state of the people coming out, it hadn't been pretty. She hoped Hiruma hadn't killed anyone.

"Any leads?" Anezaki asked.

"The small guys don't know anything," Hiruma explained, "we're going to their base next."

"B-base?" Anezaki's eyes were wide.

"Yeah." Hiruma rubbed his shoulder. Oh, he'd been glazed by a bullet, that's why it stung. He stared at the blood on his hand, fascinated by it.

Anezaki pulled the car over promptly, startling Hiruma.

"I'm going to clean you up, hold still!" Anezaki ordered him as she pulled out the first aid kit and started to pull his shirt up. She had noticed the blood on his hand out of the corner of her eye and chose to do something about it right now. Hiruma didn't respond right away, but eventually he helped her get the clothes off. He'd been glazed several times and didn't even notice.

Her expression was distressed as Anezaki cleaned up his wounds. How could he be so careless right now!?

"Hi-hiruma you have to take better care of yourself!" Anezaki stumbled at the beginning she was so angry with him. Logically she knew he was mostly beyond help right now, but his carelessness was enough to drive her insane.

"You can't die right now!" Anezaki cried as she finished the bandaging. "You can't- you can't be so careless!"

In silence he put his shirt back on and checked his legs for injury. There were none, so he put his seat belt back on and gave Anezaki an expecting look.

"If you can't drive I'm going to." Hiruma told her plainly. With shaking hands, Anezaki turned back to the wheel and started the car again. This burden she was carrying, the burden of making sure Hiruma didn't kill himself, was so heavy and painful. The man she was in love with had been destroyed by this and that caring face had turned into her worst enemy. She started to drive, obediently, to their new destination.

To Anezaki's surprise it was a business office in the middle of downtown. She turned and looked at Hiruma carefully. He didn't seem tired, he didn't seem to be feeling.

"Hiruma…." Anezaki muttered as he got out of the car. The man didn't spare her a second glance as he shut the door and walked inside the building. He didn't hear her tears and sobs as she collapsed and broke down on the steering wheel.

On the inside of the building were several people milling about with their daily lives. Each one looked like they could probably break the person next to them, but Hiruma didn't let it bother him. He walked up to the secretaries.

"I'm looking for my daughter," Hiruma told them, "and someone around here knows where she is." The secretaries shared a look.

"Sir, do you have an appointment with someone?" One of the secretaries asked.

"Yeah, I do," Hiruma pulled out a nasty looking gun and pointed it at the woman's face, "I'm looking for the fuckers Saburo Haruka employed recently."

A gun got set against his temple from someone else in the room.

"Put the gun down." The thug told him. Hiruma only turned and looked at the man blankly for a moment. Then his expression turned into one of recognition. This was one of the men that had been in on the kidnapping, how convenient.

Keeping the gun on this guy was difficult, his expressions and manners were so unsettling. He had this feeling shooting this guy wouldn't actually do any damage, let alone kill the man. The thug forced himself to stay steady, he couldn't let some beanpole stop him.

"Why don't you?" Hiruma asked. "I only came here to talk."

"You can talk with a gun on your head." The thug assured Hiruma.

Someone else came over and put a gun on Hiruma's head. With a sigh, Hiruma pulled his gun away from the secretary and hoisted it up into the air.

**Bang!**

Too bad the lobby had chandeliers. Hiruma rushed forward past the gun the first thug was holding while the lighting fixture came down on the other. He tackled the thug and put a gun to that ugly mug's face. Everyone in the room was tense and silent.

"Where is my baby girl?" Hiruma asked the man, a scary smile on his face.

"What the fuck?" The thug demanded, only to get hit on the head once with Hiruma's weapon.

"Sometime between the hours of 5:30 pm and 7:40 pm you broke into my apartment and kidnapped my daughter," Hiruma explained to the man, "where is she now?"

The thug remained confused for exactly two more whacks to the head. He recalled the job and doing it. That fucking kid had bit him multiple times while they tried to transport her-!

And this scary man was the father they had been warned about? Oh shit.

"We took her to a safe house, I can't remember which one!" The thug answered.

**Bang!** Wrong answer.

Hiruma stood up, guns pointed at him all around. Hn, that's annoying. Several people paled at the sight of Hiruma pulling out grenades in response. Tossing them with the precision and accuracy that had made him so famous in the football field, Hiruma soullessly blew up a large portion of the lobby, sending everyone into a state of confusion and panic. He turned to the secretaries.

"I'm using that computer now." Hiruma announced. They simply got out of the way and watched, in horror, as Hiruma took out guns and started to shoot down everyone else in the room. Once the lobby had been taken care of, Hiruma sat down at the computer and started to hack into it. He looked for the files of the transaction with Saburo. Ah, there they were. Addresses to the safe houses? Check. Probably the one closest to this apartment….

"There he is!" Someone cried only to have a grenade tossed at him.

Hiruma wasn't in the mood to deal with this shit.

"Get us out of here now." Hiruma told Anezaki when he got back into the car. She didn't need to be told twice, he went in and kicked a hornet's next. It was only a matter of time before someone truly dangerous caught on their trail. Anezaki tried hard not to think about what kind of pursuers they might have at this time.

Driving through the streets, Anezaki followed the directions to a nice suburban neighborhood not too far from his apartment. She looked around for parking momentarily, before she found a spot and pulled in. With an unfamiliar twist in her stomach, Anezaki had a feeling she should accompany Hiruma this time. He got out of the car and gave her a confused glance when she did too.

"You need me with you this time." Anezaki told him. He was too far gone for Emiko to handle, that much was for sure.

"Do what you want, don't get in my way." Hiruma retorted and started off towards the building. Following at his heels, Anezaki faintly wondered how she was going to stop him this time.

"Don't blow up the front porch, what if Emiko was just inside?" Anezaki asked him as he moved to pull out the rocket launcher. He put it away, acknowledging that Anezaki was proving useful.

Instead he went up to the front door and opened it. Thugs in the room jumped to their feet and Hiruma only pulled out his AK-47 and started to shoot their weapons away before they had a chance to attack him.

Biting her lip, Anezaki could only follow.

**-elsewhere in the same building-**

Nozomi heard the very familiar sound of gunfire in the distance. Emiko did too, because she jerked then looked around, a little frantic. Nozomi only grabbed her friend's hand and rubbed it gently.

"Hiru-chan, we need to hide." Nozomi explained.

"Saka-chan?" Emiko asked, nervous and upset.

"In there." Nozomi pointed at the air vent.

"In there?" Emiko blinked, not sure what to think of that.

"Yup, it's a good place to hide- I go there every time when this happens. There should be enough room for you too." Nozomi explained.

"O-okay." Emiko nodded.

_=_=_=_=_

What do you think now?


	43. 39: Mad World

Author's Note: **WARNING!!** This chapter contains some pretty intense emotional jerking around. I'm not sure if you'd call it R-rated, but it's definitely not for the weak of heart!

Song: Mad World is by Gary Jules, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 39: Mad World

Juumonji had brought a nice lady with him. She didn't let them play dress-up, but they got to do lots of other fun things-

-That was, until the loud banging started. Someone was banging on the door really loud, it was weird and scary! Emiko yelped and put her hands on her ears, trying to block out the noise. Juumonji's girlfriend had got up and answered the door.

There was more banging, and now yelling. Emiko cried out and started to shake. Yelling, mad yelling especially, made her twist up inside. It hurt to hear it, the feelings hurt! Juumonji started yelling too and Emiko decided to run away. She went into Papa's room and shut the door and crawled under the blankets with Chizue-the-dog.

"S-stop…!" Emiko muttered, wishing the bad noises would go away. They did not in fact they got closer and closer. The door opened and Emiko quivered beneath the blankets. Something pulled the blankets away, exposing Emiko to the chilly room.

"This is the one." Some man with a gruff, harsh voice remarked.

Hands, touching, coming out of nowhere-! It hurt it hurt it hurt!

Emiko screamed loudly.

"Shit!" One of the men hissed as he picked up the flailing child. Emiko was screaming and trashing like a cornered animal. Another one of the thugs went to assistance and got bit by the almost feral child.

"Get some chloroform-" The man holding Emiko demanded.

"-Granny said no drugs." Another thug answered.

"What the heck am I supposed to do about this!?" The man holding Emiko demanded.

"I got rope, let's just tie her up and gag her." A different thug decided and they proceeded to bind the wild girl. Emiko thrashed and struggled, her already large brown eyes wide and fearful. She continued to fight, even when she had been tied up. Everything was bad; it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt!

Papa!

…He didn't come. Where was Papa? He said he'd always be with Emiko, it was a promise. Papa said he'd always keep Emiko safe, why was Papa not here? Shouldn't Papa be here to help keep Emiko safe? Emiko wasn't safe anymore.

Emiko started to cry, small sobs shook her struggling form and big tears rolled down her cheeks. She was a physical embodiment of the word 'suffering'.

"You sure Granny said no drugs?" One of the thugs asked, having felt kind of bad for the little girl.

"Yes, I'm fucking sure." And with that they carried the pain-in-the-ass out of the apartment and into the car where their employer was waiting. She referred to herself as Granny and her reasons for kidnapping this kid were the fact her father was an infamous gambler, blackmailer, and all around psychopath. Since the guy that had been in there was gruff and scarred, they could believe it well enough.

Not that yakuza really give a flying fuck about the morals of what they are doing, it does help sometimes, in cases like these, where the slowing struggles of a pitiful child break your heart. The one carrying Emiko set her in the back next to Granny.

"Why did you tie her up!?" Saburo demanded as she clearly displayed how irritated she was by the state Emiko was in.

"You said 'no drugs'," the thug replied, "and we can't have the kid screaming bloody murder on our way out. I'm not taking her out of that goddamn rope until we get her secured in the safe house."

Saburo frowned and pulled Emiko close. She began to shush the child, knowing better than to try and undo the knots on that small, feeble form with her weak body. Emiko kept on crying as she wished, prayed, for Papa to find her soon. She didn't want Grandma now; she didn't want Grandma to take her away from Papa again. She didn't want to have to get in trouble for using the wrong towel. She didn't want to be with the plastic, lifeless dolls Grandma always wanted her to play with-!

Emiko was in the air.

Huh?

No, no she was just being carried over one of the big, bad-smelling man's heads. They were going into a blue house with red flowers in the front. To her confusion, Emiko found herself in a grey living room with a pretty green couch.

"Untie her now." Saburo demanded.

"Yeah, yeah." One of the thugs replied, cutting Emiko free. The brat had got quiet and was now looking around the room, trying to take in every detail.

"I'm getting a drink." Another thug announced. After a job like this, whiskey was a requirement.

Saburo snapped.

"I'm going to have a drink if I fucking want to-!" The thug snapped back.

"Oh don't you start swearing-!" Saburo growled.

"Or what? What are you going to do to me?" The thug taunted.

"I'll-!" Saburo was cut off by someone else sticking her head into the room.

"Shut up the hag and throw her in a closet." Sakamoto curtly ordered the lot of them. Having heard some rather annoying arguing, Sakamoto had decided to come in and tell them all to shut the hell up. She didn't know why the lot of them had an old woman in the safe house, but considering they had had almost no rank in the family, it was probably something menial they had been hired out to do.

The thug moved to protest, but recognized Boss' woman well enough. He grabbed Saburo, gagged her, and threw her into a nearby closet.

"You can have your drink, but not another peep out of you, am I clear?" Sakamoto ordered with no argument.

"No, no, Sakamoto-sama." All of the thugs assured her.

Emiko blinked and poked her tear-stained face over the top of the couch.

"Saka-chan's mom?" Emiko asked, confused.

Sakamoto's eyes went wide when she saw the confused face of her daughter's best friend. She was caught off guard and started to try and think of reasons why Emiko might have possibly come this way.

"Is Saka-chan here? Can I play?" Emiko asked innocently, as if she hadn't just been kidnapped and man-handled.

"Yes, yes you may." Sakamoto had heard about Emiko-chan's precious Papa from Kongo. The man would probably be a frazzled mess trying to find his kid. She and Kongo would probably have to deal with finding Emiko's father and the mysterious attacker that was causing all of this shit. Well at least Emiko was in a safe place.

"Ma'am?" One of the thugs asked.

"Yes?" Sakamoto demanded tersely as Emiko got off the couch and walked over, rocking a great deal. She was red and bruised, clear signs of her recent abuse all over her pale form. Sakamoto was not thrilled, but she could have guessed what happened.

"Ca-can I go?" The thug asked.

"Yeah, get out of here if you want to." Sakamoto told them tersely and lead Emiko away. After a bit of thought, she decided it would be better if Kongo didn't know about Emiko being around. It would complicate things since that fucker was causing some pretty massive damage and very quickly. Kongo needed to be focused on protecting the family.

"Nozomi?" Sakamoto asked as she entered her daughter's temporary playroom (all of the safe houses had one ready for her). "I've got a job for you."

"A job?" Nozomi asked, now curious.

"I need you to watch over someone for me." Sakamoto explained as she opened the door the rest of the way to reveal Emiko. "Do you think you can do it?"

"Yeah!" Nozomi's face lit up with delight. "Come on, Hiru-chan! Let's play!"

"Okay!" Emiko smiled and went right into the room and went for the nearest plushie.

Sakamoto only smiled and shut the door. She didn't want Nozomi to grow up to be like herself and her father, but she did want Nozomi to know how to do the right things. She wanted Nozomi to be able to protect things that she cared about and to have real friends. Protecting Emiko would help with that, Sakamoto was sure.

"Fuck!" Kongo yelled when Sakamoto came into the computer room. Looks like the attacker struck again. Kongo was _livid_, his face all scrunched up and he was starting to throw one of his childish, yet destructive and violent, tantrums. Sakamoto rolled her eyes and grabbed Kongo by the neck and pulled his head down to her level. She was an ex-assassin, kicking Kongo's ass and keeping him in place was still something easy for her.

"Now, tell me what the attacker did and we'll deal with it like adults." Sakamoto demanded and let go.

Kongo recovered quickly, flashing Sakamoto a grateful look. She always did keep him sane and in place.

"Ah, the trash just got the club. Absolute chaos, 20 customers dead, countless injured." Kongo read off the current report. "They don't know how he got there or what he wanted. They do know we're dealing with some psychopath armed to the teeth with guns."

"Well, well." Sakamoto looked at the screens carefully. "Seems our attacker keeps going higher and higher up the chain."

"So he's going for our business front next?" Kongo asked.

"It's a matter of figuring out which one." Sakamoto startled to work at the computer.

"Natsumi, he's not going to go to the closest one," Kongo called before Sakamoto could call the office, "he's going to go to the one where he knows the location."

"Which is which one?" Sakamoto asked.

"Any of them, give them all an alert. Tell them to let the fucker do what he wants, but get a face and a destination." Kongo ordered.

"Agon?" Sakamoto asked.

"This fucking trash, he's after something," Kongo remarked, "something we've got and I want to know what the fuck it is."

"Are you trying to resolve this peacefully?" Sakamoto was confused.

"Oh fuck no! I'm just going to make this bastard suffer for trying to mess with my family." Kongo corrected her. "Why the hell would I show mercy?"

"Why the hell indeed." Sakamoto went back to the computer and started to make phone calls. She found herself getting scuffled around in the bureaucracies involved in running a business. Took her a good 50 minutes to finally start talking to the right persona and by that time one of the offices had lit up an alert. Of course it wasn't the one she was currently dealing with.

"Fuck." Sakamoto hung up and called the front desk of the attacked office.

No answer.

Another attempt.

No answer.

"Shit-!" Sakamoto hissed and called someone from the floor up and told them to send reinforcements down. She also demanded to have a face and destination from the attacker.

About 20 long minutes later she had one of the answers.

"He's heading here." Sakamoto hung up the phone. This bastard just put Nozomi in danger- she was going to castrate him personally.

"Looks like we'll have to prepare to welcome him then, love." Kongo produced a rather thin dagger with a beautiful mother-of-pearl inlay in the hilt. It had been Sakamoto's favorite weapon in the life and Kongo had kept it on his person for sentimental reasons. Sakamoto took it from Kongo, planting a kiss on his lips.

"You always did know exactly how to take care of your own." Sakamoto hid the weapon away on herself.

"What can I say? I had the best teacher." Kongo joked as he left the room. Once outside he began issuing orders. The opponent was armed to the teeth with guns so they were going to blast that fucker with tear gas and then heavy lead of their own kind. Kongo was going to be there personally for the frontal assault, because this was going to work perfectly and Nozomi would be safe.

They hadn't finished getting ready when Kongo heard the first rounds of gunfire get exchanged. After quickly instructing Sakamoto to take over, Kongo went running to the front to start thrashing this obnoxious bastard trash.

Having the sense to grab a police shield, Kongo forced his way into the room with the attacker. The resulting barrage was strong enough it almost completely forced Kongo back out of the room, but the overly strong and stubborn man, managed to hold on long enough the guns started to make that familiar click that meant they were completely lacking ammunition.

Kongo took this moment of weakness to close the gap on his attacker and for the neck, only to find he had a pistol in his face, between his eyes which were meeting the dull green ones of Hiruma Youichi.

"…The fuck?" Kongo muttered only to notice Hiruma had started to pull the trigger without hesitation. Reacting instantly, Kongo moved his head to the side and managed to only get glazed by the wax bullet. This did nothing to prevent the quick knee to the gut and the lost of his wind when the two adults came crashing to the floor.

"Youichi stop!" Anezaki cried as she entered the room to see upon Hiruma on top of Kongo, holding a gun to the latter's face. Kongo grunted and sent his hard fist at Hiruma's head. There was no way in hell he was going to let this trash get the best of him.

**Bang!**

"Ah fuck!" Kongo cried, cradling his abused face. Wax bullet or not, that wasn't a weak gun and he took that hit point blank. He was bleeding and his ears were ringing while the rest of him was one giant lump of agony.

"Youichi!" Anezaki's voice sounded distant to Hiruma's ears. He was more preoccupied with the fact his body wasn't getting up like he had demanded it did. Oh, wait, that's right, he got knocked under a table. Crawl out, yes that's right, and shoot that fucker again for the ache on the side of his head. Sound plan.

Sakamoto came into the room, surprised when she saw Anezaki of all people in the room, screaming. She made eye contact with the woman.

"Emiko-!" Anezaki gasped, "She's somewhere in here-!"

And then everything fell into place.

Saburo Haruka had hired some low-level grunts in family to kidnap her granddaughter. That's why that hag looked so familiar and that's why Emiko was at the safe house, it was the one nearest the Hiruma residence. She and Kongo hadn't known about the transaction because it had been done on the lowest levels. Hiruma had lost his mind when his kid went missing and had managed to find the trail of her kidnappers and follow it here. Kongo had created a sub-family with a false name for political maneuvering two years ago. This safe house and the club and the business had all been associated with the fake family, so Hiruma hadn't realized this was Kongo's gang. Anezaki was probably here in an attempt to do some damage control and her bravery was something Sakamoto respected a great deal. It was clear Anezaki was scared, upset, and stressed but she stayed there and steady, trying to keep Hiruma from shooting Kongo… again….

Sakamoto just slapped the devilish man across the face, hard and forceful.

"Stop attacking him for one fucking minute so I can tell you where your kid is you mother fucker!" Sakamoto snapped at Hiruma.

Hiruma paused and stared at Sakamoto. Right answer, he was going to listen intently now. You lie and he'll kill you, but for this moment you have his complete attention.

"Emiko is in the back room playing with Nozomi." Sakamoto explained. "Put that gun away and I'll show you to her."

Hiruma complied for the moment. Reality was starting to sink in, slowly. He'd just beat the crap out of fucking dreads, that's pretty impressive, now where's Emiko?

A loud sob coming out of the ventilation system startled everyone in the room. Hiruma knew who made that noise, it was Emiko's voice and she was upset and hurt. Without thinking, Hiruma found himself on a chair and opening up the vent with his Swiss army knife. The grate fell to the floor with a loud clatter and Emiko sobbed again.

"Emiko?" Hiruma asked. Did she hear him? Did she know it was over now?

A dirty foot peeked out of the vent and Hiruma finally realized it wasn't Emiko's when it smashed into his face, giving him a black eye and knocking him off balance and sending him sprawling onto the floor. Nozomi then jumped down out of the air vent. She was covered in dust and looked just as livid as her dad did when he was mad. The little girl marched over to Hiruma's prone form.

"Don't you dare scare Hiru-chan like that again or I will beat your face in!" Nozomi told Hiruma as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "She's not going to forget all of the dumb things you did today! She can't!"

That's when the light returned to Hiruma's eyes and the guilt, fear, and panic set in. To say he'd fucked everything up was the biggest understatement of the year. Anezaki and Sakamoto were helping Emiko out of the air vent, Kongo was getting up and a few of his lackies had gone and gotten some first aid kits. Hiruma's wounds from the previous encounters hurt like hell, and-!

Emiko wasn't looking at him. She was covered in bruises and dirt and tears.

Not to mention Nozomi was completely right. Emiko never forgot anything; she'd carry this experience with her for the rest of her life. It was the curse of having such an insanely good memory.

After Nozomi let go, Hiruma let himself fall back onto the floor, tears prickling in his eyes. Fuck!

Emiko's evening had turned sour again when Nozomi had asked her to join her in the air vent. It might have been safer but there were all sorts of bad noises that were extra loud in there. In a panic, Emiko had started to crawl around in it, trying to find some relief. Then she heard the awful, painful, yelling and Mom calling Papa's name. It hurt, all of it hurt. She was covered with dirt, Papa wasn't here. Everything hurt.

"I'm so sorry Emiko-chan." Anezaki apologized. Emiko looked up at her Mom, then around the room, her eyes falling on Papa.

Anezaki let the girl down and watched carefully as Emiko made her way over to her Papa's side. Slowly, Emiko knelt down beside her Papa's head. She held out her hand in the direction of Nozomi. A second passed and Nozomi's expression turned to understanding. Producing a handkerchief, Nozomi handed it to Emiko.

With a set expression Emiko began to dry Papa's tears.

Hiruma felt the blunt handkerchief on his face and opened his eyes to look at Emiko. She was very determined looking, made her look like her mother. But Hiruma didn't give a fuck; he reached over and pulled Emiko into a hug.

"I'm sorry." Hiruma apologized.

"I forgive you." Emiko muttered robotically.

Hiruma started to full out cry, out of all of the emotions running through him.

"Can we go home now?" Emiko asked innocently.

Hiruma's breath caught-

-The apartment was still a wreck; they had no home to return to.

Fuck.

_=_=_=_=_

Yes, Hiruma is sane again, sane and distressed. Emiko's back with her Papa and both Agon and Hiruma are spotting some interesting wounds. Let me know what you think.


	44. 40: Everybody Hurts and extra!

Author's Note: I know I waited a good deal on this chapter and that's because I wanted to make a thoughtful comment. Today is Songs For Daddy's first birthday. That's right, this is the first story I've been writing for over a year. I wanted to thank everyone for sticking with me as a struggle through keeping this story alive in me and in you. As an author I seek to give you the very best. Here's your next installment and thank you for reading.

Song: Everybody Hurts is by REM, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 40: Everybody Hurts

"Let's get you cleaned up first, okay?" Hiruma looked at Emiko and avoided her question entirely. It couldn't be helped; he didn't have the heart to tell her that they probably couldn't go home for a long time, not after what just happened.

Emiko realized she was extremely dirty and made a face. She hated dust, but liked mud. She's one of those kinds of kids.

Adjusting his hold on her carefully, Hiruma got up off the ground. His body spasmed and ached in ways that told he'd clearly over abused it that day. Looking up he saw that Sakamoto was dusting off Nozomi while she got the last of the first aid taken care of. Kongo looked pretty messed up; obviously bullets point blank to the face aren't really good for you, even if they are non-lethal.

"…Can I borrow a bathroom?" Hiruma asked, knowing that they had every right to deny him because of all of the shit he'd just done.

"Enri," Kongo began, "show those two to the back bath."

"Boss-!" Enri protested only to have Kongo cut him off with a glare.

"And when you're done I want you to find the trashes that were hired by Saburo Haruka and bring them here." Kongo added. Hiruma shot Kongo a confused look as Enri bowed several times in apology and began to lead the two Hirumas away.

"Nozomi, could you show Anezaki-san where the spare clothes are? Hiru-chan and her Papa are going to need to borrow some." Sakamoto asked Nozomi. The little girl nodded quickly.

"Sakamoto-" Anezaki began, she couldn't begin to describe what was going on her head and heart right now.

"-You need to be with them right now." Sakamoto wasn't oblivious to the love Anezaki shared with Hiruma. "He's suffering just as much as you and Emiko-chan are- the pain will be easier to bear as a group."

Anezaki looked into Sakamoto's eyes and understood. She'd been through this before with Nozomi. Her advice was spoken from experience and respect. Anezaki opened her mouth to say 'thank you', but was interrupted before the words could come out.

"This way sensei!" Nozomi was standing by a doorway, waving Anezaki's attention over to her.

With a sigh, Anezaki and Sakamoto spared a moment to share understanding smiles and then Anezaki went on her way to start helping clean up the mess Hiruma had left in his wake. Like she always did for him for all the years she'd known him.

"…You're awfully forgiving about what just happened." Sakamoto observed as she gave Kongo a pointed look. After all of the shit that had just gone down, Sakamoto was not terribly willing to be readily forgiving Hiruma for those who had died, who had been hurt, or for the damage to the Family's structure. Not to mention just how thoroughly _pissed_ she was about Nozomi being in any danger. Though, Sakamoto didn't hold anything against Anezaki, that poor woman had had enough of a day and just needed some good advice from someone who'd been through the same experiences.

"I did the same damn thing," Kongo muttered as he got up, "the same damn thing."

"Yes you did." Sakamoto understood. Nozomi had gotten kidnapped two years ago by a rival group and Kongo had gone on an even more destructive rampage of his own. Even with that, Sakamoto wasn't going to empathizing with the careless man just yet. She didn't know Hiruma like Kongo did and frankly she didn't give a shit about that. Surveying the injured in the room, especially Kongo's face, Sakamoto agreed with Kongo's observation that Hiruma 'wasn't a trash he ever wanted to fuck with' was very true.

"Quit being pissed at the trash, Natsumi." Kongo told her sharply. He knew her too well; he could tell that she was plotting to kill Hiruma in his sleep tonight.

"Agon-!" Sakamoto began only to have his finger tap her lips once, shushing her.

"That trash has no desire to cause anymore problems for his precious baby's best friend." Kongo pointed out. "And he's not the one responsible for this mess."

"Not responsible!?" Sakamoto protested loudly as the thugs that had kidnapped Emiko came into the room. "What the fuck do you mean by 'not responsible'!? Did you not notice he shot you _in the face twice!?"_ Her voice was cracking under the emotion and distress.

Kongo simply held up a finger to Sakamoto and let her breath a little bit.

"Just watch a minute." Kongo told her softly and turned around to face the now scared lackies of his.

"You trashes," Kongo addressed them, "tell me exactly what the fuck you did when you went to abduct Hiruma Emiko."

There was a burst of nervous stuttering and stumbling that went silent when Kongo glared in his impatience. After a few seconds of scared breaths, one of the thugs had the courage to step forward and recount his part of the story. Each one took a turn and made sure to describe all of the detail they could find. Watching them carefully, Kongo silently absorbed the information.

Sakamoto listened on and her eyes grew wider. They didn't just take the girl; they destroyed the apartment and brutally beat the two babysitters. If Emiko had just been taken from the house, that'd be different than what happened here. That had been an attack with a message that clearly provoked the darkest side of Hiruma. She didn't feel as angry as she had at the man when she heard what kind of scene he must have come home to….

"Where is that fucking hag trash right now?" Kongo demanded. Sheepishly, one of the thugs told him where Saburo had been gagged and what closet they had locked her in.

"Natsumi, go get that hag, bring her in here and tell her this is her fault." Kongo ordered.

"No." Sakamoto frowned. "I'm going to wait for Hiruma to come back first, he needs to see this."

"That trash needs to be with his kid and _she_ doesn't need to see this shit." Kongo dismissed Sakamoto's idea. "He'll get his revenge when we fucking show that hag trash the damage on her 'precious granddaughter's' body." It had not escaped Kongo's attention that Emiko looked thoroughly abused, in several ways worse than he had.

Sakamoto nodded. Beating the shit out of an old woman wasn't going to be nearly as satisfying revenge as breaking her mind for the rest of her life. Still, Sakamoto was bitter. All this damage done that could have been prevented on so many accounts. All this hurt and her daughter being in danger…!

"Oye, Natsumi," Kongo called after her, "we're going to get past this shit. It's not the worst thing we've been through."

"…I know." Sakamoto managed a tired smile. "I know."

Nozomi liked pretty things, Anezaki observed. She liked to dress up in nice clothes and be pretty if the wardrobe was anything to go by. But Nozomi was practical because her nice clothes looked a lot less used than anything she wore to school. She stayed away from the nice clothes, only managing to remember to grab some ribbon from those. She grabbed a fluffy tee-shirt for Emiko and some comfortable pants.

It was almost funny how Nozomi just grabbed the nearest stuff for Hiruma to wear. Obviously Nozomi was much more concerned with her friend's welfare than Hiruma's. In someway that was endearing, Anezaki mused, that Nozomi was determined to take the best care of her best friend. She was reminded of herself and Sena for a moment, but only for a fleeting one. Emiko and Nozomi were very different than herself and Sena.

"…I'll go get some ointment." Nozomi announced after she opened the bathroom door and looked inside. Anezaki wasn't sure why she said that until she stuck her head in to see both Hiruma and Emiko butt naked. Her embarrassment at the sight of Hiruma naked was quickly replaced with worry; Emiko was covered in nasty purple bruises and Hiruma was covered in various bullet wounds and his face was suffering a black eye and a mess of a bruise across his face.

"You two are a mess." Anezaki remarked, mostly because she had nothing else to say. She set the clothes down as Hiruma continued to go about scrubbing Emiko's hair. Adorably the younger Hiruma's ears wiggled and her face looked pleased and blessed. Considering how good Hiruma was with his hands, Anezaki was not surprised Emiko liked it when her Papa washed her hair.

"It's not as bad as it was." Hiruma muttered in response. He'd just spent several patient minutes getting dust and grime off both of them with the shower on. Since Hiruma's tired, abused legs finally had enough, he decided to continue the rest of the cleaning as a bath. Considering he'd been running around shooting the shit out of Kongo's gang all evening and into the morning, he could forgive the fact his legs gave out but not everything else. Hiruma was only frustrated by the amount of shit he still had to do before he went to bed.

"I'm almost clean!" Emiko chirped happily. It was hard to believe she had had such an eventful day with the expression she was wearing. That's when Anezaki recalled something she once read. Those with autism see the world as an unrelated series of moments. What's happening to Emiko right now has nothing to do with what happened to Emiko 20 minutes ago. In that sense she could live without being bothered by the events of today.

But Hiruma, Hiruma would remember. He would know. And he would hurt for a long time after all of this was said and done. It wasn't like Anezaki wouldn't either. But the fact Emiko was unburdened by this would be a grace, Anezaki decided, a much needed one.

"So where are you two staying tonight?" Anezaki asked.

"Staying?" Emiko looked confused. "Aren't we going home, Papa?" She didn't turn her head back, but she did look worried.

"…The people that took you out of the apartment today broke a lot of things, it's a really, really big mess." Hiruma explained quietly. He looked significantly more tired now. He'd been trying to, well, avoid this issue. But the reality was he'd have to confront it.

"We're still going home right?" Emiko asked. She's slept in a messy room before, it's not like that'd prevent them from going home.

"They broke my bed and the couch, I don't have anywhere to sleep." Hiruma explained.

"You can sleep with me on my bed!" Emiko nodded. See? Problem solved.

"Emiko, they broke the windows and the heater too," Hiruma explained, "we wouldn't be safe if we went home right now. It is that broken."

Emiko remembered that one time the stove was so broken it wasn't safe anymore. If the entire apartment was that way….

Plick!

Emiko was crying again. She wanted to go home but she couldn't go home which was sad because she really wanted to be home with Papa right now but everything happened and now she couldn't go home.

"Why don't you two come and stay with me tonight?" Anezaki offered. She might be mad at Hiruma for everything he did, but she wasn't going to hold it against him. All Hiruma had wanted, really wanted, was Emiko. He was plenty guilty about what happened, she could see that much. He knew he'd hurt her and he was afraid of the consequences.

"Wh-what?" Hiruma looked honestly surprised.

"Really!?" Emiko perked up again.

"I don't want to be by myself tonight." Anezaki explained. "And I've got a nice big bed, we can all stay in it together."

Emiko nodded, recalling that bad stormy night where Papa woke up and was weird all morning. She liked staying with Papa and Mom.

"Are you sure?" Hiruma swore she was going to kill him for this.

"Yes, I am. Now stop worrying about it." Anezaki told him.

"…You aren't mad?" Hiruma asked.

"I was a little," Anezaki admitted as she looked Hiruma in the eyes, "but not anymore."

Hiruma frowned and moved to ask what she meant by that when there was a loud scream from another room in the house.

"Grandma?" Emiko looked extremely confused now.

"She's here?" Hiruma was equally confused. Did you know those two wore the same expression when they were confused? It was really adorable and if the situation had been different Anezaki would have awed.

Actually, there was little Anezaki could do to confirm that. She hadn't known about Saburo's actual presence at the safe house, but it made logical sense if she was there. Instead she turned back to Hiruma and looked at him. Funny how he was still handsome, despite the wounds on his body and the fact Emiko was in his lap. Funny how, despite his attempts to hide it, Anezaki knew he was too tired to stand by the way he carefully, sluggishly scrubbed Emiko's back. She knew he didn't want to face the guilt he was feeling, or the exact consequences of his actions today. And she knew that he was hurting inside.

Because Anezaki knew these things, she still couldn't make herself hate him. He was impatient about some things, most of them relating to Emiko's welfare. And he hadn't hidden the fact that Emiko was one of the few things keeping him sane in this crazy world they lived in. She had just witnessed what happened when you took away that sanity. He was back now, and she could forgive him.

"Emiko," Hiruma asked, "did you see your Grandmother here?"

"Yes, she was in the car with the big-smelly-men." Emiko frowned. "She didn't untie me."

Hiruma frowned and opened his mouth to say something when Anezaki touched his arm.

"Let it go." Anezaki told him quietly. "We have enough to deal with right now."

"Yeah! We have to go to Mom's place and sleep!" Emiko knew it was late, she was plenty tired. But she was stubborn about showing it and going anything less than full throttle because she's like her Papa that way.

"…Yeah." Hiruma nodded. If Saburo was here, where the heck was she going to wind up staying? He wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave her all alone. And what about her husband? Shit, Hiruma had forgotten about that. Thankfully he had remembered to rinse Emiko's hair out. As he watched the water flow through his daughter's hair he faintly wondered if Anezaki had hair as soft and fine. She certainly had it long enough….

Okay, Hiruma get a grip, you're tried, you've had one fucking hell of a day, checking out your girlfriend is not on your agenda right now. It ought to be, fuck, no not right now.

"Why the blush?" Anezaki asked innocently. She had no idea what prompted that, despite it being cute on Hiruma's face.

"Yeah, they're in here!" Nozomi called loudly from the hallway. Footsteps followed the sound and Hiruma jerked in surprise when Saburo Haruka and Kongo Agon burst into the room. Emiko jerked in surprise and tried to hide behind Papa. Hiruma had just turned himself such that Emiko had a better place to hide behind.

The old woman's eyes widen when she sees the harsh, red, gun wounds on Hiruma's body. She sees the large bruise forming across the entire side of his face from where Kongo smashed his head. She sees that he is glaring, painfully, through a black eye.

"You know what you did?" Kongo wasn't above telling her this. "You're the one that did that number on him."

"I-I didn't do anything!" Saburo protested weakly. She'd been like this ever since Kongo showed her the damage done to his Family.

"Agon-!" Anezaki cried, exasperated. This is not what they needed right now.

"-Stop tormenting her." Hiruma finished dryly. Saburo looked at him, both grateful and confused. Kongo only gave Hiruma a 'what the fuck are you going to do about it?' look in response.

Emiko hiccupped, tears starting to come back. The room felt bad and it hurt again. Stop, please, stop. Everyone stop-!

Kongo's expression turned understanding. Of course Hiruma didn't give a fuck if he tortured this woman, but in front of Emiko was not okay.

"Hey trash," Kongo addressed Hiruma, "where do you want me to take the bitch responsible for all of this shit?" He made Saburo stumble to make it clear who that bitch was.

Emiko started wailing again and Nozomi glared at her Dad.

"No swearing." Nozomi reminded him in a dark, cold voice. Kongo panicked slightly and looked rather sheepish. That girl was definitely Sakamoto's daughter.

Hiruma looked even more tired now that Emiko was screaming about something. Now he had to calm her down and take her to sleep in a foreign place? You bastard.

"Take her to my old man's place and tell him he has to keep her out of trouble until I get over there." Hiruma decided. His trust in Saburo was at an all-time low right now, he didn't want her by herself until he knew exactly what to do with her. His father would figure it out and understand well enough.

"You can't just decide that!" Saburo protested. She thought it was unfair and in many ways it probably was.

"I'm not going to talk to you right now." Hiruma told Saburo curtly. He honestly didn't have the energy. Kongo understood and started to carry Saburo away.

"You bastard! You horrible, fowl spawn! How dare you-!" Saburo's screams were muffled by Kongo putting a hand over her mouth and hauling her the rest of the way out of the room.

Emiko only cried louder.

Hiruma turned and held Emiko close and started rocking. She calmed down fairly quickly, probably because she was too tired to stay upset for long. Nozomi had come over to check on Emiko and looked to Anezaki for help.

"I think it's past everyone's bedtime." Anezaki told Nozomi slightly. "Emiko will feel much better if she gets some sleep."

Nozomi nodded slowly, she got cranky when she was tried too.

"Yeah…." Hiruma agreed. He had finally gotten tired enough that he became extremely agreeable to anything that got him closer to sleeping, something that rarely happened. Anezaki could sense this and handed him a towel.

Neither Hiruma or Emiko really had a memory of what happened next, they were in the tub one moment, clothed and standing in Anezaki's bedroom the next. Rubbing their eyes sleepily, Hiruma and Emiko both examined the room. It had dresser, big bed, desk, wardrobe, mirror, and nice big window with fluffy curtains, all in all a good bedroom. In his tiredness, Hiruma simply set Emiko on the bed and climbed on himself, only to all but pass out on top of the blankets. With a bemused grin, Anezaki pulled Hiruma's shoes off and pulled the blankets and sheets out from under him. Emiko managed to find the energy to crawl up next to him, her brown eyes barely staying open. She didn't want to sleep without Mom.

Anezaki didn't let Emiko wait long, only sparing a moment to remove the most restricting portions of her clothes, and crawled in along side Emiko. She pulled the covers over them and noticed that Hiruma had already managed to fall asleep. The poor man had simply run out of strength enough to stay awake, even though Emiko was.

She was looking at Papa, he must be really comfortable. Papa never falls asleep unless he's comfortable, even when he's sick.

"Emiko-chan," Anezaki began, "let's go to sleep."

"What's going to happen?" Emiko asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Anezaki admitted, "but I think we're going to wake up and have breakfast tomorrow."

"…Will it stop hurting?" Emiko asked. Her body hurt, her mind hurt, and a lot of the memories hurt.

"Yes." Anezaki assured the girl.

"…Are you hurt?" Emiko asked.

"A little, but I'll get better soon." Anezaki wondered what in the world made Emiko ask that question.

"Why do we have hurt?" Emiko muttered. "Hurting is bad."

"You can't have joy without hurt. And sometimes, everybody hurts." Anezaki explained.

"What do they do then?" Emiko asked.

"They get together, snuggle in, and hold on until it stops." Anezaki answered.

"Ah." Emiko smiled and snuggled into her warm Papa. She was doing the right thing, now it was time to sleep.

Once Emiko passed out, Anezaki studied the sleeping father and daughter. They were both pained, but when Anezaki snuggled in with them, they became at peace. She was sure they had bounds to deal with in the morning, but right now they were going to hold on and rest themselves until the pain stopped.

=_=_EXTRA: Birthday Special_=_=

Emiko has had only six birthdays so far. She might not recall each one, but Youichi certainly does. He remembers each one, including the presents she was given and who gave them to her.

The day she was born was surreal itself. Chizue had died violently, yelling and screaming at Youichi until the end. Yet that woman, despite being fragile, was able to give Emiko something invaluable.

Chizue gave Emiko life.

She made sure Emiko was born despite Youichi, despite her body, despite her doctor, and despite her father. That was the most beautiful gift Emiko ever received. And Youichi was thankful, always thankful, that Chizue succeeded in allowing Emiko to live in this world.

Another gift upon her birth was that pink baby blanket the hospital gave her. She still treasures it. Yuuya gave her a cradle and a roof over her head while Youichi adjusted to the change of having Emiko in his life. Yuuya gave Youichi guidance and instruction in taking care of a small child. Some of Emiko's first toys came from her Grandpapa, old hand-me-downs that once belonged to Youichi, but Emiko liked them well enough.

Haruka and Teru were quick to deposit toys and clothes on Emiko. The most notable, to Youichi anyways, of these gifts was the red ribbon Haruka had made for her. Emiko loved that ribbon and ever since it got put in her hair, became insistent about wearing ribbon regularly. Secretly Youichi loved Emiko in ribbon, so he encouraged that behavior.

Emiko's first birthday was celebrated by all of the grandparents and her father. The morning was spent with a gloomy visit to Chizue's grave and the afternoon was spent watching Youichi try and get Emiko to eat some of the birthday cake he made. The result was Youichi wearing the birthday cake.

Haruka has photographs of this. Youichi wishes he could get a hold of the negatives….

Gifts were again toys and practical things, since Youichi seemed to always have the bare minimum when it came to child caring items. It wasn't out of spite or incompetence; it was out of ignorance mainly. He didn't know what he needed and never bothered to ask.

Emiko wasn't talking by her second birthday, but she was walking and toddling about. This was a special year because she got to wear a hat. And it was shiny and pretty and purple. She made Papa wear it because then she could look at it and squeal in pleasure. Yuuya hadn't been present for that birthday, nor any that followed. Haruka and Teru were there, but they had to leave early when Teru started to feel sick.

About four weeks later, on Youichi's birthday, Emiko graced Papa with her first present from her: her first word.

"Football!" Emiko squealed at Papa and pointed at the TV.

Youichi was damn proud. It was the best present ever.

Emiko wasn't a big talker, even though it was her third birthday. She did greet Grandma when Grandma came. Grandpa was too sick to come. Again Emiko was showered with toys and useful things, like a larger car seat. Papa made her a big cake with pretty red frosting on it! Best cake ever!

Upon turning four, Emiko could hold a proper conversation with someone else, even if she wasn't that good at it. Youichi had been helping her with that. Emiko remembered this birthday as special because Youichi took her to the ice skating rink in the mall. Emiko was very clumsy at ice skating. She fell down a lot and managed to bring her father down with her most of the time. Despite that, they were both laughing and smiling when they got off the ice and enjoyed the hot chocolate and coffee at the little café. Emiko came home to Grandma and a few more presents, but going to the ice rink was the best.

When Emiko turned five, Youichi took her to visit her mother. He explained that her mother died so that Emiko could live and that's why she died on the day Emiko was born.

"Thank you." Emiko told her mother.

They went to Grandma's to celebrate there. At Grandma's house were lots of adults who were distant cousins and aunts. There were also party decorations and Emiko got lots of presents but….

It wasn't very fun. She didn't get to be with Papa much and no one really wanted to play football with her. Papa told her afterwards it was important to know your relatives because you don't get to pick them, but you have them all the same. He also gave her his present at home and they stayed up and watched a football game. That had made up for the rest of the day.

Emiko's sixth birthday was spent in confusion. Papa came to school to give her his present. She liked it lots! It was big and fluffy! Anezaki-sensei made them sing a birthday song and Emiko got to have a creampuff. It was kind of sweet but she liked the feel of it in her mouth. But things went bad when Grandma picked her up and took her away from Papa. She even threw away Papa's present! That was mean!

Yet at the end of the day, Papa came to visit. He promised they'd be together for her seventh birthday. Emiko believed him, she still does.

Maybe they'd have Mom there too on her seventh birthday. That's what Emiko hoped.

And secretly….

That's what her Papa hoped too.

_=_=_=_=_

This story officially made over 300 pages typed this chapter. I'm rather pleased with that development. It is also Songs For Daddy's first birthday (yes, I have been working on this thing for a year now). I also am providing a set of reference links to fanart, fanfiction (yes someone wrote a fanfic of my fanfic), and extra stories. Remove the spaces or try my profile: http : // bar-ohki . livejournal . com / 44062 . html


	45. 41: The Real Me

Author's Note: Next installment.

Song: The Real Me is by Zebrahead, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 41: The Real Me

Anezaki woke up because she was too hot and heard unfamiliar noises. It took her a few moments to get over the initial shock of Hiruma being in her bed and recall the night before. She brought him and Emiko here because they had no where else to go-! A small gasp escaped her when Anezaki realized Emiko wasn't in bed with them and Hiruma's face was flushed red and his breathing labored.

Hesitantly, Anezaki reached out and touched Hiruma's sweating forehead. It was hot, very hot. She pulled her hand back as if to keep herself from being burned. Praying his fever hadn't been caused by infection from his injuries, Anezaki slipped out of bed to find Emiko pacing about the bedroom, her arms flapping. The little girl was making very distressed noises.

Certainly Hiruma had been sick around Emiko before, he had even mentioned it to Anezaki once. But it was still strange to see the little girl pacing in the room with her hair down. There were always ribbons in Emiko's hair, even when she lived with Saburo.

"Emiko-chan?" Anezaki asked and Emiko went on pacing.

"Fever Papa fever…." Emiko muttered. She was supposed to call Grandma but she didn't know where Papa's cell phone was and Anezaki's didn't have Grandma's number in it. Ack! Touch!

"Emiko-chan." Anezaki called to the girl a little more firmly after she touched the girl's shoulder. "Can you help me take care of your Papa?"

Of course Mom could help take care of Papa. Moms take care of Papas and their babies. That's what Saka-chan said.

"Y-yeah!" Emiko stopped pacing and nodded, determined.

Hiruma only moaned and rolled away from the light. Fucking morning, go away!

"Youichi, you need to get up and change your bandages." Anezaki told him only to get growled at. He was still a swollen mess from yesterday's attacks, which made him look only more pitiful.

"Papa!" Emiko called out worriedly. "You have to be good or you're not going to get better!"

At the sound of Emiko's voice, Hiruma opened the one eye that wasn't injured and looked at his daughter. Emiko was distressed and upset again. He sighed and managed to sit himself up very slowly. His body was aching and heavy. Everything was tiring, even breathing.

Emiko's smile was radiant enough to cast a small smile on Anezaki's and Hiruma's faces. The little girl climbed onto the bed and sat down next to her Papa.

"You have a fever." Emiko told him in her usual toneless voice.

"Really?" Hiruma asked. If that was true it'd explain why he felt so exhausted.

Anezaki touched Hiruma's fevered skin again. It was so sweaty, that couldn't be good for the wounds.

"You need to shower off," Anezaki told him, "you're covered in sweat."

"Bandages." Emiko added and poked one of them to make her point. Hiruma only let out a loud gasp and forced his face to hide his pained expression. His job of it was very bad, but Emiko didn't seem to notice.

Anezaki only shook her head a little. "Let's get started then."

After a fucking cold shower and getting his bandages changed, Hiruma found himself in some more borrowed clothes from the man next door, under a very girly quilt, and carefully tucked in on Anezaki's couch. Emiko was on the floor beside the couch, playing with some of Anezaki's old Rocket Bear plushies happily. Anezaki was in the kitchen preparing some sort of overly nutritious rice porridge and a damp towel for Hiruma's forehead. He'd already been forced to take some fever-reducing pain medication before Anezaki allowed him out of bed; the result was that now he was getting to be very sleepy and extremely lethargic. But pain medication always did that to him, so Hiruma didn't think anything of it.

Since she was currently graced with a little time to herself, Anezaki was in thought. Hiruma has always been shameless. He hadn't seemed to care or notice how Anezaki had been next to him, naked, in the shower helping him get clean and stay upright. Nor did he notice when she changed his bandages in just a bra and panties. There was a part of her that wished he had noticed and gotten aroused but there was another part that was extremely grateful he didn't. If he had it would have made for a very awkward morning.

Little did Anezaki realize that it was going to be a very awkward morning and by awkward we are referring to an unexpected visit from her parents.

Hiruma Youichi, their daughter's infamous boyfriend, was coming to meet them today and Anezaki's mother, Anezaki Mami, had gotten some nerves and wanted to make doubly sure that her daughter really was madly in love with the man she called 'a devilish fiend' more than once in high school and college. Anezaki Tateo, Anezaki's father, had not only humored helping his wife's nerves, but he also wanted some assurance his daughter really did love this widower.

So they knocked politely on the door of Mamori's home, waiting for their precious daughter to open the door and quell their fears. Mami waited in a traditional blue kimono with a purple band and her hair up in a bun. Tateo was also wearing a traditional kimono as well, but his was a dark green. Like most Japanese men, Tateo was brown eyed and black haired. His wife had brown hair and blue eyes, just like her daughter. But unlike Mamori, Mami's features were rounder, more western.

Imagine their shock when a little girl with a heart-shaped face, big brown eyes, and black hair up in a single ribbon opened the door. On her arms were some pretty large bruises, some of which were hand shaped. She glanced at the parents for a moment, taking in all the details of their person with her wide eyes. Both Mami and Tateo felt like they were being examined on a very personal, deep level by this child. It was unsettling.

"Oh, uh, hello." Mami greeted the child.

"Hello." Emiko responded while rocking on her feet as she looked fixatedly at the shiny belt Tateo was wearing.

"E-emiko-!" Hiruma's voice rasped from the couch. He'd gone off in a small doze out of exhaustion, medication, and fever. When he came back into awareness Emiko wasn't by the couch. He doubted she could have wandered far, but he should be watching her.

"Coming Papa!" Emiko called back. She bowed and trotted back into the house to go stay by her Papa. After sharing a look, Tateo and Mami decided to follow the girl into their daughter's home. Upon entering the living room they were greeted with the sight of Hiruma. His skin was flushed with fever, his face was sporting a black eye on one side, a giant bruise on the other. Because the black eye was so swollen, Hiruma was using a single green eye to tiredly watch over his daughter as she played with Mamori's toys on the floor.

Tateo and Mami shared another look. Hiruma and Emiko both shared those distinctive ears that made them recognizable despite all of the years it had been since they last saw the devilish man. To Mami's horror, Hiruma still wore piercings and still bleached his hair. And he'd clearly been in a fight of some sort! There was no way their daughter was seriously considering marrying this man!

"M-mom! Dad!" Mamori gasped, startled enough she nearly dropped the tray with Hiruma's breakfast and damp rag. She hadn't heard the knocking from the kitchen and was very alarmed to see her parents in the house so unannounced.

Hiruma had turned his eye onto the older Anezakis. They looked only slightly older than the last time he had seen them and they were clearly displeased with him. Faintly he recalled, in horror, that he was supposed to meet them today. But the distress over that was soon lost. Mostly because a new distress concerning the smell of the food Mamori had brought him was making him very unhungry (a state he always was when sick).

"Is this Youichi?" Mami asked, making no effort to hide her distain. Emiko flinched. Bad feeling, bad twisting inside-!

"Mom-!" Mamori was cut off by her father.

"Is it?" Tateo almost demanded. All Mamori could do was nod slightly and make her way around her parents to give Hiruma his breakfast.

"I don't want it." Hiruma muttered. The thought of food made him almost nauseous.

"You've got a 39 degree fever and you _will_ be eating some food." Mamori informed a very small Hiruma. Because he was so sick and weak, he felt very intimidated by her and that made him want to be small and fast like Kobayakawa so that he could escape.

"You said breakfast was the most important meal of the day." Emiko reminded her Papa as she continued to play quietly.

"Fine." Hiruma submitted and tried to sit up to eat. He hurt, he ached, and his energy was low. It was slightly humiliating when Mamori set a gentle hand on his back and helped him upright. She set the tray on his lap and turned to her parents.

"So why did you two stop by?" Mamori asked. It was about 11 am, not an unreasonable time for guests but....

"We wanted to talk to you," Tateo explained, "about your boyfriend." The last part was all but spat out.

Emiko flinched again. Hiruma frowned.

"Really?" Mamori asked. She did remember they were supposed to meet Hiruma today, but finding him here on her couch obviously hadn't conveyed the best impression. How to explain what happened and why Hiruma was on her couch with a fever and facial wounds that clearly marked him as having been in a fight, Mamori just didn't know.

"Alone." Tateo added harshly with a pointed look at Hiruma. Emiko abandoned her toys and tried to burry herself under the quilt that was covering Hiruma. She didn't want to be around the bad feelings, nor did she want Papa to be alone.

"Anezaki-san," Hiruma's voice was weak and quiet, "I can't really stand."

"What?" Mami frowned, looking at the man carefully.

"He's hurt and sick!" Mamori protested to both of her parents. "If we really must talk alone, we can go in the kitchen. Besides, I don't really see the reason to not all discuss this together-"

"You want to talk about this together?" Tateo asked dangerously.

"I don't see what the issue is…." Mamori admitted. Hiruma looked tense, mostly because he didn't have a voice strong enough to carry if they started yelling. He didn't think Tateo knew about what yelling did to Emiko.

"You are asking me to have a conversation with _that_ man?!" Tateo snapped, unabashedly pointing a finger at Hiruma. "You were the one that told me of his previous exploits and he clearly hasn't changed at all!"

"Dad-!" Mamori protested.

"Look at him Mamori! His face, his illness! And that bizarre behavior of his kid!" Tateo ranted. "Its clear he needs help but you shouldn't be forcing this on yourself-!"

Emiko screamed. She screamed loud, trying to tune out all the noise and feelings. Hiruma moved the bowl aside and managed to pull Emiko up onto his lap. Her expression was pained and her hands were grasped over her ears.

"Emiko really, really doesn't like it when people say bad things about me." Hiruma explained in the silence that had filled the room. "And yelling hurts her." He was holding her close and stroking her quivering head.

"Look at that," Tateo went on, "he's not even defending himself!"

Emiko tried to make herself smaller and whimpered.

"Dad!" Mamori snapped, angry now. "Look at what you are doing to Emiko!"

Mami felt sorry, she honestly did. That small child was in pain and Hiruma looked defeated and powerless, something all parents did when their children suffered and there was nothing they could do to ease the pain.

"Dear," Mami grabbed Tateo's arm, "stop."

Tateo turned slowly and looked into Mami's eyes. She was deadly serious. Carefully, Tateo moved his gaze towards his daughter. Mamori had moved to Hiruma's side and was now helping clam down Emiko. The girl was crying a little and Hiruma turned and gave him a particularly murderous look. Then, without any warning, Hiruma shut his eye and turned back to Emiko, his gaze helpless and concerned. Just like a father's should be….

"…What happened?" Mami asked the three people on the couch.

"Big-smelly-men came." Emiko answered with a sniffle. "They made a big mess and lots of noise and then I had to stay with Grandma, there were lots of yelling and me and Saka-chan had to go in this really black hole then there were lots of bad noises and then Papa was there and he was hurt and crying then Mom came and we all went home and went to bed because we were tired, but then Papa got sick!" Emiko flailed slightly in her father's arms. She had spoken fast, but she was painfully honest and Tateo could only stare at the girl in awe. What the heck was that all about?

"…Mamori-!" Hiruma requested in a harsh whisper, unable to voice his entire request. His expression was somewhat desperate and he hoped she knew what to do. Thankfully for Hiruma, Mamori was still adept at reading him and understood.

"Mom, Dad," Mamori began softly, "Emiko had been kidnapped yesterday."

"K-kidnapped?" Mami gasped, alarmed by the very thought. Tateo was staring at the hand-shaped bruises on Emiko's with a new light. The poor child had been manhandled yesterday; no wonder she was acting strange…!

"My mother-in-law hired yakuza." Hiruma added in his small voice. Mamori watched her parents pale at the thought. They'd heard about the whole child custody case, so they understood the motive.

"Youichi and I spent all of yesterday evening trying to track down Emiko…." Mamori continued. She chose to trail off and leave it right there because she wasn't sure how exactly to explain Hiruma's wounds.

"You fought them didn't you?" Tateo observed as he looked over Hiruma's face.

Hiruma only held Emiko a little tighter and nodded. He'd do anything to keep Emiko at his side and safe, the pain he was in was proof enough. Tateo saw this and felt like an idiot. Yesterday was probably just about hell for Hiruma and his daughter, and Tateo was a fool for accusing the man of being anything less than a father.

It took Hiruma few seconds to look at the hand that had been placed on his shoulder, then to trace it up to the face. His mind was muddled by the fever and he wasn't reacting quickly, but Tateo appeared to understand both this and the reason for this condition.

"I'm sorry for earlier." Tateo apologized.

"S'fine." Hiruma muttered. He knew it was too easy to jump to conclusions when he looked like this.

"Papa," Emiko began, "you need to eat your breakfast."

Everyone laughed when Hiruma moaned theatrically.

Both Mami and Tateo wound up spending the rest of the day helping Mamori and Emiko take care of Hiruma. Both of the older Anezakis learned a great deal about Emiko and about Hiruma that they hadn't before and they liked what they learned. Mamori almost burst into tears with relief when he was told this and Hiruma managed a small 'thank you' before he passed out again.

"Tell him that I approve of you two getting married." Tateo told Mamori as he left.

"I-I will. Have a safe trip." Mamori had been a little startled by the prospect of marriage with Hiruma coming out of her father's mouth but now she was pleased that he approved.

After her parents left, Anezaki went about doing the many things that needed doing. She contacted Kongo Unsui and managed to arrange to get what could be salvaged from Hiruma's apartment moved into her home, after it had been recorded as evidence. She also contacted the Azuma family and arrange for Chizue to be delivered to her home tomorrow.

A quick call to Takekura revealed the mess of Saburo Teru's condition. The man was mostly better, but his medication had been in amounts too small then too large and left him particularly weak with some added complications. Since Takekura was very familiar with the staff at Joukamachi Hospital and they were very understanding when he said this was one of those 'Hiruma matters', they let him in on the exact amount of damage that had been done and took his word as if he was a medical advocate's and started to do what they could to heal Teru.

Maruko called Anezaki before she had a chance to call him. Since he was also Kongo Agon's lawyer, he had been able to quickly get to the bottom of the legality of what happened yesterday. Kongo hadn't wanted to press charges or anything of that sort, but he did want a discrete check from Saburo Haruka paying for some of the building damage and medical fees. Saburo's lawyer apparently was very willing to help convince her to provide the check, mostly because this wasn't a court case they could win.

Yuuya called not long after Maruko did and asked if he should go and try to retrieve some of Saburo's clothes. The answer had been yes, mostly because Hiruma was in no condition to do anything to change that situation. Yuuya had been rightfully alarmed to hear exactly what happened the night before and of his son's fever and the visit of Anezaki's parents. After she was done explaining everything, Anezaki found herself chatting pleasantly with Yuuya about other things.

Other things like how helpful Emiko had been all day and how her parents approved of a marriage. Yuuya whole-heartedly agreed with them that he thought this was a wonderful idea.

Hanging up the phone, Anezaki returned to the living room where Hiruma was sleeping and Emiko was carefully tucking her baby blanket around him. Kongo Unsui had brought it by since he thought it was something pretty important and he'd been right. Emiko turned her head and looked at Anezaki, a little startled.

Anezaki only smiled back and tiptoed into the room to join Emiko on the floor next to him.

"I just did most of the work your Papa's been worrying about." Anezaki whispered gently to the girl.

"He'll rest better now?" Emiko asked quietly.

"I hope so." Anezaki agreed.

"…Are we going to stay here forever?" Emiko asked.

"Maybe." Anezaki supposed. She saw no reason Hiruma had to move out.

"…I like it here." Emiko muttered with a yawn. "I like being with Papa and Mom…."

Anezaki caught the small girl as she passed out. Hiruma had told her in the past Emiko had a bad habit of running herself ragged until she literally had no energy left and collapsing if she was stressed. Much like her father in that sense, Anezaki realized, as Emiko's face relaxed into sleep. She looked so much liked her father when she slept.

Carefully, Anezaki pulled the blankets away and laid Emiko on her father. With a mutter, Hiruma shifted in his sleep and wrapped an arm around Emiko, holding her close. Anezaki giggled a bit and got a green eye glaring slightly at her.

"T-There isn't enough space on the couch for me!" Anezaki protested, having read Hiruma's look.

Hiruma only patted the side of the couch where there was, in fact, a small bit of space. Anezaki sighed and climbed over the two to settle into the very warm spot. Casually, Hiruma tossed the blankets back over them and sighed contently.

"G'night." Hiruma muttered.

"Goodnight."

Anezaki wasn't afraid of what would come of tomorrow, nor was she particularly worried about Hiruma forcing himself to get better too quickly. Right now this family had all of the time in the world and that's what mattered.

_=_=_=_=_

I promise more fluff!


	46. 42: Forgiven

Author's Note: I'll come up with something appropriate to say here later.

Song: Forgiven is by Disturbed, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 42: Forgiven

It was a few weeks before Hiruma had recovered enough to go and make his own rounds. The first thing he did was arrange both Saburos to move into an assisted living facility. He then went back to his old boss and ended his lease with the apartment. That had been hard for him, leaving the place he had raised Emiko in so long. Not that saying goodbye to that apartment had been easy for Emiko either, Hiruma still wished he could go and visit it and recall all of the little things Emiko and he had done to the place on purpose and on accident in the time they'd been living there.

Once the housing situation was taken care of, Hiruma went and visited the Saburo family company. Technically he was the heir to that enormous business enterprise, but it was currently being run by a deputy Saburo Teru had appointed when his illness took a turn for the worse.

After a very awkward conversation in which the deputy cowered almost the entire time, Hiruma got a signed check of the appropriate amount to give Kongo. He also straightened out the company's shitty business plan and demoted some idiots and promoted some competent underlings. There was no way Hiruma was going to let that company fall to pieces before Emiko had a chance to get her hands on it. After all, the entire purpose of him marrying Chizue in the first place was to take fucking care of that company.

Visiting Kongo had been done in the presence of Maruko to make sure that all parties were settled and satisfied legally at the end. Hiruma spent the end of the transaction explaining how he managed to track Emiko and all but destroy Kongo's Family. Mostly because Kongo had to know so that he could take measures to make sure Hiruma would simply be directed to help rather than continued destruction if something like this were to ever happen again.

Kongo was not at all averse to telling Hiruma exactly how much damage had been done either. Maruko had privately remarked to Kongo that telling Hiruma that information had been a complete asshole maneuver. The yakuza man only turned to his lawyer and pointed out, bluntly, that Hiruma would have asked for that information if he hadn't already found it himself.

Hearing the amount of deaths had been a crushing blow to Hiruma, but all he did was stand up and ask politely when and where the funerals were. Everyone in the room knew he would attend every single one, and everyone knew he would always remember what he did. Like Emiko, Hiruma had a hard time forgetting, especially when it was important.

The next thing he did was call Yukimitsu whose immediate suggestion was to, oddly enough, visit Saburo Teru at the hospital. Yukimitsu hadn't supplied much of a reason other than 'doctor's order, go or I'm banning you from the football field ever again'. And that reminded Hiruma he would have to talk to Takekura about the missed work and practice. He was officially away on 'private matters' which the media was interpreting as a family death. Personally, Hiruma didn't give a flying fuck what the media thought as long as it wasn't the truth.

Head Nurse Oka was still at that hospital, much to Hiruma's surprise, when he arrived. She had been standing at the gate to greet him personally. The nurse hadn't changed much since he last saw her; she still had overly gaunt face, thin, boney body, and goth-like make-up. Her expression was deeply unpleased.

"I told you if you left here, you'd be cursed." Oka commented with a frown.

"Tch." Hiruma wasn't in the mood for this shit. That fucking nurse was bringing up old, old history he didn't give a fuck about. "Where is Saburo Teru?"

"…Room 321." Oka answered. Hiruma only nodded and walked past her, on his way.

"Hiruma-kun," Oka called out to him as he went by, "if you want that spirit to stop haunting, you must first forgive it."

Hiruma stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around to stare at Oka, his expression nothing short of shocked. But somehow that crafty nurse had disappeared into the crowed lobby, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Shaking his head, Hiruma went straight to Saburo's room.

The Saburo patriarch looked weak and fragile. It was almost as if he was a pile of bones with skin stretched over them. Considering the man had once been a marathon runner, it was a sad, sad state of affairs to see him so weak. Hiruma knew he was partly at fault since he had left the man's condition in his wife's hands too long.

Despite being bed-ridden and weak, Saburo was wearing a pleasant smile and was sincerely happy to see his son-in-law. But the smile faded when he noticed Hiruma's burdened expression.

"Your friend, Musashi-kun, told me what happened." Saburo explained. Hiruma seemed to relax when he heard that. "I'm sorry she got out of hand, I've just been too sick to do anything."

"No one is blaming you for being sick, old man." Hiruma told Saburo pointedly as he took a seat in a near by chair. He felt heavy.

"But if I hadn't been sick you wouldn't have to have gotten married to a woman you didn't love." Saburo pointed out wisely. He was under no illusions about what Hiruma's relationship with Chizue had been.

Hiruma kept his mouth shut. He actually liked Saburo Teru as a person well enough to not want to actively make an asshole of himself by being unnecessarily bitter towards a sick old man.

"In the beginning, Chizue hated you, did you know that?" Saburo babbled. He was the sort of old person that spent a lot of his time babbling. Yet, Hiruma couldn't be helped to be drawn towards those words. This man had known Chizue all her life in ways Hiruma couldn't begin to imagine, mostly because Hiruma hadn't ever really known Chizue during their marriage….

"Really?" Hiruma hadn't realized that. Chizue had been awfully good at hiding her hostility towards him if that was the case.

"She saw you as some sort of chore her mother made her put up with." Saburo explained. "I got to hear many rants about your laundry habits."

Hiruma only blushed slightly. He was a slob by nature and he hated cleaning with a fiery passion. The only reason he bothered with it was to keep Emiko from getting sick or injured.

"Over time that changed," Saburo went on, "she started to fall in love with you. I was happy for her, you know that? I wanted her to be happy when she was married and she found it despite the fact it had been arranged…."

Hiruma nodded slowly. Looking back, either by himself, or with the help of others, Hiruma had found the signs that Chizue had loved him. During the marriage he'd been completely oblivious.

"Then she found out you were in love with someone else and not even looking her way." Saburo continued. "I told her to tell you how she felt, but she didn't do that did she?"

"No." Hiruma confirmed.

"I heard her talking to Haruka about it and Haruka suggested she find some way to force your attention to her." Saburo explained. "I told both of them that the idea was horrible but Chizue was decided."

"Pregnant," Hiruma muttered, "she got herself pregnant."

"Knowing full well that her heart medication was not for pregnant women too," Saburo added. "She knew from the moment she set out to have Emiko that it would probably kill her."

Hiruma went still. Chizue knew she would die?

"I suspect she tried to make the most of it." Saburo continued without pause. "She wanted bear the man she loved a child enough to kill herself for it. I tried to stop her, tired to get her to see reason but…."

"The past is full of regrets." Hiruma finished, empathizing with the old man.

"I understand the women in my family have put you through a lot of grief," Saburo commented, "and I'm sorry I haven't been able to do anything about it."

"I'm not blaming you for the shit your wife does-!" Hiruma snapped, annoyed that Saburo had already forgotten.

"-I'm not just talking about my wife, nor am I just talking about Chizue." Saburo corrected. "I'm talking about Emiko too."

Hiruma only stared. How did Emiko do anything to him-!?

"You've been raising her by yourself, forcing you to change who you are and how you behave for her sake," Saburo pointed out in a calm voice, "I should have helped you learn how to be a father without destroying the man you were."

"I've figured it out." Hiruma assured the man, despite being shaken and weary. Saburo was right, too right.

"After six years of hiding and losing your daughter twice." Saburo observed dryly. "You shouldn't have had to deal with that…."

"There's nothing that can be done now, is there?" Hiruma muttered after some thought.

"Not entirely." Saburo corrected him. "I can still make up for lost time and lack of action, just a little."

Hiruma only raised an eyebrow at the man.

"Haruka and I, after Chizue's death, forgave you for what happened." Saburo explained. "Never once did we blame you for our daughter's foolishness. Even if Haruka has lost part of her mind, in her heart she already forgave you."

"…I'm forgiven?" Hiruma had always thought that Saburo Teru, like his wife, held Chizue's death against him.

"Will you forgive her?" Saburo asked. "Chizue for all she's done to you."

Oka's words echoed quietly in his mind.

Forgive.

"I-" Hiruma began and cut himself off. He wasn't ready to forgive Chizue for all the shit he'd been through.

"Please let go and forgive," Saburo advised him, "so you can start healing."

That had been what Yukimitsu had been trying to get him to do, Hiruma realized, was come here and heal.

"I'm not ready." Hiruma answered lamely.

"Aren't you about to remarry?" Saburo asked, his words startling Hiruma. "I don't think your new wife will want you carrying that burden with you."

"Don't you-!" Hiruma hated being told what to do as much as he hated having Anezaki drug into things, but Saburo wasn't finished.

"All Chizue wanted, Yoichi-kun, was to make you happy." Saburo almost pleaded. "She wanted you to be happy with Emiko; can you forgive her for giving you that?"

Chizue was simply standing there, staring at down at him with a frown. Hiruma looked at her for a moment and realized that, he could forgive her. It would hurt and the scars on his heart and soul would always stay but his desire to move forward was stronger than any fear of pain. He was done living with regrets, so he let go of his anger, his grief, and forgave Chizue.

Just as suddenly as Chizue was there, she was gone, a small 'thank you' whispering in the air.

Hiruma didn't realize it but he was crying, mourning really. Mourning the death of his first wife, since he'd never bothered in the six years afterwards. He mourned Saburo Haruka's lost mind, and he mourned all the lost time he could have had with Saburo Teru.

"Here's some water." Saburo offered Hiruma a glass and the sniffling quarterback took it.

"Yukimitsu Manabu came and visited you, didn't he?" Hiruma had realized that there was no way in fucking hell this wasn't a set up.

"He didn't but a nice young lady by the name of Anezaki Mamori did." Saburo answered. "She even brought Emiko with her and I got to hear all about how good a Mom she was."

Hiruma didn't exactly have a come back to that.

"You have my blessing to marry her, if that matters to you." Saburo added.

"Everyone in the whole fucking world must be under the impression I'm going to marry her next week." Hiruma growled.

"Next week might be a little soon, but I think it should be done before the year is out." Saburo confessed. "You're long overdue for some real happiness."

"I _am_ happy." Hiruma corrected Saburo quickly.

"Not as happy as a man who's getting some action in bed is." Saburo smirked when Hiruma blushed. "And don't think I don't know what I'm talking about, I am a married man."

"Shut up!"

"You're my only son, Youichi, and I will do my fatherly duty of tormenting you." Saburo was grinning.

"You are a perverted old man." Hiruma hissed.

"And you are a perverted and sexual frustrated young man." Saburo mockingly-hissed back.

"Screw you!"

"I'd rather you not, never did like anal."

"Gah!"

After that conversation turned sufficiently awkward, Oka came in and gave Hiruma an excuse to escape. She also gave him a very creepy, knowing smile. Once out of the hospital, Hiruma made his way to Takekura's office to deal with his best friend.

Takekura had told him plainly that he expected him in at work tomorrow and that the coach was banning him from games until the Rice Bowl. Mostly because Hiruma was coming off being sick and being hurt and the quarterback wasn't as young has he used to be. It was going to take him most of that time to really get back into playing shape.

"My return game is going to be the last game of the season?" Hiruma almost snorted at this.

"I want to actually win this Rice Bowl, so yes it will be." Takekura answered. "I already arranged tickets for Mamori and Emiko, any more complaints?"

"Where are they?" Hiruma asked.

"Your favorite spot, 50 yard line, 6 rows back." Takekura smirked.

"You are really hard to get mad at." Hiruma observed, looking very annoyed.

"I consider that a talent of mine." Takekura chuckled. "So do you and Mamori have a date yet?"

"I don't have a fucking ring, dipshit." Hiruma growled back. "I'm not going to marry someone I haven't proposed to."

"Want me to take you ring shopping then?" Takekura offered seriously.

"Fuck no!"

"Okay, be safe going home." Takekura wished his friend as Hiruma stormed out of the room.

"Is there a particular reason you decided to heckle him?" Juumonji asked as he watched Hiruma leave and slam the door behind him.

"Because if I don't heckle him, I'm not going to get any results from him." Takekura answered.

"Ah."

Hiruma got home to be greeted by Emiko wearing his old high school jersey. She seemed to be very proud of the fact she was wearing it. With a smile, Hiruma picked her up and gave her a kiss on the forehead, very happy to home with Emiko.

"Papa," Emiko began, "here!" In her hand was a little red toy ring with a red fake jewel on it. Hiruma took it from Emiko, puzzled.

"What's this for?" Hiruma asked.

"Proposing to Mom." Emiko answered. "You need a ring, right?"

"Uh, yes." Hiruma confessed. "A fancy ring."

"That's a fancy ring!" Emiko smiled. See? She did a good thing!

Hiruma faintly wondered how offended Anezaki was going to be if he actually did propose with a child's toy Emiko got from god-only-knows-where. With a shake of his head, he thought better. He wasn't in a hurry to get married again; he would like to try living together as a family a bit longer. Though perhaps, he was ready to start talking about it and thinking about it seriously.

"Ah, welcome home Youichi." Anezaki greeted him when she came into the hallway. She'd been cooking again, wearing that pink Rocket Bear apron too. Her face was lit up with a sincere smile that just made her look even more beautiful.

"It's good to be home." Hiruma smiled back an equally sincere smile. Mamori came up to him and gave him a light peck on his cheek that resulted in an adorable blush. Emiko giggled happily to voice her approval.

"Did you get everything on your list done today?" Mamori asked as Youichi set Emiko down. Both adults watched the little girl scamper off into the living room where her toys were scattered across the floor.

"Not everything." Youichi smirked at her suggestively.

"Oh?" Mamori only raised an eyebrow at him.

Wordlessly, Youichi pushed a condom packet into Mamori's hand. He was blushing a lot more now; a bit afraid at how she would react to the notion of sex. Mamori only looked down at the little blue packet for a minute, not recognizing it right away. When she did she blushed too.

"But Emiko-!" Mamori protested in a small whisper.

"My old man's coming by later to take her out to see that dragon play she was babbling about last week." Youichi explained. "We'll have the evening to ourselves."

"You planned this." Mamori accused him.

"Of course." Youichi smirked. "Would I possibly do it any other way?"

"I don't mind but-" Mamori stopped herself.

"But?" Youichi frowned. What could the catch possibly be?

"-My mother said she wanted marriage details by tomorrow." Anezaki answered lamely.

"…I'm not objecting to getting married in the long run," Hiruma explained, "but in the short run I'm not quite ready…." Thoughts of Chizue hung in the silence.

"I'll pass that onto her then." Anezaki decided. "I don't think I'm ready either and I know Emiko isn't."

"Even if she thinks it's the best idea in the world." Hiruma snickered at his daughter's expense. It wasn't something he got to do often.

"I think it is." Mamori remarked thoughtfully as she walked back into the kitchen, leaving a stunned Youichi behind.

"Papa, what was that thing you gave Mom?"

_=_=_=_=_

And poor Hiruma has to deal with his nosy child and a pervy father-in-law! Yes folks, Chizue is officially gone now! Yay~!


	47. 43: Everytime We Touch

Author's Note: Lemons anyone?

Song: Everytime We Touch is by Cascada, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 43: Everytime We Touch

"I-it was something she asked me to pick up at the store." Hiruma answered his daughter. Emiko might have a knack for being inquisitive and awkward at just the right moments, but she was not one to press if Hiruma presented a logical enough explanation.

"Mom was at the store earlier today, why didn't she get it then?" Emiko asked. Her tone did not sound confused but her face was contorted in extreme confusion.

"It wasn't on the list." Hiruma answered. "And she didn't really need it, but I know she wanted it so I got it for her anyways."

"A surprise?" Emiko asked.

"Yes." Hiruma answered with a smile. Emiko squealed and gave her Papa a hug. Papa liked Mom so he got her surprise presents. This was a good sign, Emiko was sure, that Papa and Mom were happy.

"Now let's go have some dinner, no?" Hiruma picked up his light daughter and carried her into the kitchen where Anezaki had been setting the table. She looked up from her work to see Emiko smiling happily in her father's arms. The happiness that radiated from the two was very contagious, Anezaki found herself smiling back at them. Emiko clearly fit in her father's arms in such a perfect way that explained why Emiko wasn't fond of holding hands.

"We made udon!" Emiko announced. "Yummy udon!"

Hiruma only looked back to Anezaki with a forced smile and slightly green complexion. Why did she have to indulge Emiko tonight? He didn't want to feel nauseous by memories of his mother's death before sex. "You don't say."

"But I did say." Emiko protested with a frown. "We're having udon, Papa!"

"She was trying to make it by herself," Anezaki explained with a smile, "so I decided to help out." Hiruma nodded at this and thought for a moment. Kakei had told him one of the best things for Emiko would be to correct her social mishaps when they are still fresh. He knew Emiko was not good at expressing her wants and needs. So he had to man up, set aside his disgust of udon, and help Emiko.

"Emiko," Hiruma began, "did you want to have udon for dinner?"

"We're not having udon?" Emiko frowned. "But me and Mom just made it!"

Whoops, wrong approach.

"No, we're still having udon, I was wondering why you tired to make it by yourself." Hiruma corrected quickly. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"It's a good night to have udon." Emiko answered.

It was at this time that Anezaki realized what Hiruma was trying to do. Emiko's amazing ability to unintentionally deflect subjects seemed to be getting the best of him.

"Emiko-chan, if you ever want to have udon for dinner, you can just ask." Anezaki explained.

Emiko said nothing, but only rocked in her chair a bit with a tight frown. Sharing a confused look, Hiruma and Anezaki wondered what prompted Emiko's distress. Thinking hard, Hiruma realized the answer after a few seconds.

"…Emiko, you're not causing me or your Mom any trouble by telling us something you want." Hiruma told his daughter softly, startling Anezaki slightly. Even after living with the two, Hiruma's fatherly habits still startled her.

Emiko looked Papa in the eye for a second then went back to rocking.

"I like to know what you are thinking, Emiko. I want to help you be happy too." Hiruma told his daughter. "So don't hold things in, okay?"

"…Scary." Emiko whispered. Letting things out was scary, people can do bad things with you if you let what's inside out.

Carefully Hiruma set his hand on top of Emiko's and held it.

"It's okay Emiko, I'm here to be brave with you." Hiruma assured his child.

Emiko nodded just as the timer dinged.

"Ah, dinner's ready." Anezaki muttered, thankful for the diversion.

For Hiruma dinner was hell. He spent the entire time not vomiting or looking like he was about to vomit while eating the udon. Despite his bad memories around udon, Hiruma still enjoyed the taste, but not the smell or look. Emiko didn't appear to notice this distress and Anezaki looked like she felt bad, but said nothing. Afterwards, while Hiruma was doing the dishes and trying to dispel the images of his mother's death from his mind, he received a phone call.

Since Hiruma literally had his hands full with the dishes, Anezaki answered it instead.

"…Some drunk teenager just crashed into your Dad's car." Anezaki explained after she hung up.

"Really?" Hiruma turned around, surprised.

"Yes, he can't come over tonight because he has to deal with the insurance and the police…." Anezaki added.

"Tch." Hiruma was not happy. Not happy at all. Was the world out to make sure he didn't get laid tonight?

"Papa!" Emiko came into the kitchen, waving a TV guide. "Look!" She was pointing at a pay-per-view football game, a Patriots game, that had happened yesterday. Emiko couldn't really read, but she could recognize some words. Football was one of them.

Hiruma only glanced over his shoulder to see his daughter's amazingly proud and happy face. He also saw the game she was pointing at and had recognized out of the TV guide. Emiko always had a habit of showing her father words she recognized in print.

"Do you want to see the game?" Hiruma asked.

"…Grandpapa's coming." Emiko lamented.

"Your Grandpapa just lost his car, he can't come." Anezaki explained.

"We can watch the game?" Emiko's face lit up like a Christmas Tree.

"Of course." Hiruma smirked.

After the game ended with the Sena managing to score a two point conversion in triple overtime, Emiko was tucked into bed by both parents. Papa sang a song and Mom pulled up the covers and gave her a kiss. Chizue-the-dog cuddled in next to her and she shut her brown eyes and waited for sleep to come. To Emiko, it'd been a good day.

Carefully, Hiruma and Anezaki retreated from the bedroom, stepping around the moving boxes and toys. They were still unpacking what was salvaged from the old apartment and making a growing list of the things they needed now that the three of them lived together.

_Though if tonight goes well,_ Hiruma thought to himself,_ we can take getting me a fucking bed off the list…._

Hiruma had, for the better or worse, been sleeping on Anezaki's couch. Something she had felt bad about and he chose not to complain.

"So," Mamori began, a bit nervous, "now what?" It wasn't like she didn't want to have sex, because she did, she just didn't know how to go about doing it.

"We go to bed?" Youichi offered, blushing slightly. From what he'd learned with his time in therapy, sex was going to be an awkward thing for him until he got used to doing it regularly again. Mamori seemed to not notice the blush and nodded, taking his hand and leading him into her bedroom.

It was different than last time, completely different.

Last time had been hormones and desire waking up and coming out, this time it was intentional. Emiko was in the house with them, sleeping, but in the house all the same. They had love and birth control. Youichi was no longer being haunted and had finally reached a point where he could admit he wanted to make love to Mamori.

Both were embarrassed enough to not face the other while they undressed. Interestingly enough after turning around to face the other, naked spare a few bandages, neither were particularly embarrassed or uncomfortable. One could probably attribute that comfort to the fact they had both seen each other naked several times before this.

"You're not hurting or anything are you?" Mamori asked softly as she eyed the bandages.

Youichi shook his head and went to Mamori's side. He leaned over and let his breath ghost against her ear. She shivered unconsciously, her body becoming aroused.

"Any menstruation cycles I should be aware of?" Youichi whispered with a smirk knowing full well that would make her angry. But after the tiring afternoon he had had, he needed a laugh to help completely get in the mood. As he predicted, her response was an indignant yelp and a light smack along with a beautiful red blush. Perfect!

"How am I supposed to interpret that, love?" Youichi asked as he raised one of his thin eyebrows at her. The feelings from earlier in the day were completely gone now. All he was doing was savoring the moment.

"Just- ah bah!" Mamori was too flustered to really make a good comeback. Hiruma only let out a small, amused laugh.

"S-stop it!" Mamori demanded, her voice squeaking loudly. Recalling that Emiko was about and still within ear shot, Youichi decided that making Mamori squeak was only going to increase the chances of Emiko waking.

So it had to come to an end.

"Okay." Youichi sobered up for a moment. This confused Mamori of course, her face showed it clear as day. "I am done putting off my own fun." Youichi clarified as he gave her a shamelessly perverted once-over. Mamori was beautiful, curved, soft, and plump in all the right places. From experience, Youichi knew that she was squishy and firm in all the right places.

Mamori watched as the lust became clear in Youichi's face. His gaze was fixed on her and into her, making his green shards burn brightly in the dim room. Betrayed by her own curiosity, she could see that he was becoming aroused. Fascinated, Mamori couldn't take her eyes off of his penis as it grew stiff and rose up. She was doing that by standing there and somehow it was exhilarating.

Knowing that she had an almost surreal grip on him, Mamori took a bold step forward and offered her hand. A small bit of surprise flickered across Youichi's face. So the fucking woman was tempting him? Damn good thing he was already a sinner and had no need of second thoughts.

After touching that outstretched hand, Youichi let himself be guided onto the bed, but his perfect cooperation ended there. Instead of letting Mamori led him around as she pleased, Youichi pushed himself forward, planting a kiss of tongue, teeth, and saliva just under her jaw. Surprised, Mamori let out a confused, but pleased, cry when nimble hands joined in. Her body was shaking in the sensations that pulsed through it from where Youichi had begun his attack on her body.

A little annoyed that Mamori wasn't moving or being as vocal as he'd hoped, Youichi pulled away and began to lick and lap his way over to her mouth. She was salty, sweet and… female. Her quivering lips quickly gained more confidence against his forceful ones. The strong, sturdy part of her nature that didn't take any nonsense from anyone compelled her to fight him and his dominance.

Growling, deep, low and primal rumbled in the back of Youichi's throat as Mamori placed her hands on him, pushing and pulling, directing and guiding. She could feel him, hard and strong above her. It made sense; Youichi always took impeccable care of his body for football.

"Mnn, love, stop thinking." Youichi muttered, having broken the kiss to catch his breath. Mamori hadn't even realized how out of breath she was or that she was panting underneath him. Somehow you forget to breathe when you're kissing like _that._ But she couldn't stop her thinking, it was almost as if his touch made her mind work faster than ever before. The lust in his eyes, Mamori could see it. Oh god, what had she gotten herself into? This man was going to eat her alive!

Yet that's exactly what she wanted.

Small lips were now plump and bruised, Youichi observed with a grin. Her wondering eyes, nothing more sexy and glorious. Maybe he could stop her thought if he worked her hard enough….

"Just feel." Youichi instructed as he fondled one of her breasts.

Mamori moaned throatily in response, her face relaxing in pleasure.

"Yesss….." Youichi was pleased. She had given in and lost herself. Being in control was important, Chizue never let him have control and he could see why. Control was, was something else…!

"A-ah Youichi!" Mamori muttered, her voice begging him to touch her more. The response was quick and immediate. Large hands, with long, nimble fingers pinched, crawled, and rubbed. Friction, burning friction was summoned by those hands. Mamori couldn't focus on anything other than holding him to her, encouraging his mouth's advancement on her breasts.

Youichi was careful, he didn't want to injure Mamori. He knew he had a mouth full of pointy, sharp teeth. Even so, he nipped, lapped, and sucked on those breasts, those pert tits. In return Mamori drove her fingers into his hair, forcing his head to stay there. Her mouth was letting out sinful sounds of pleasure.

Those sounds sent fire to Youichi's throbbing prick. Unable to hold back anymore, he rubbed himself against her inner thigh to relieve some of the tension down there. Mamori only let out more noise, her legs started to rub and move of their own accord. She had a winding, throbbing tension inside her that demanded him inside her. Now.

"Someone's impatient…." Youichi chuckled as he removed one of his hands to grab the condom off the side table. As he opened the condom, Mamori made some angry noises, clearly displeased that Youichi's attention was elsewhere. It's not like sticking a condom on was actually one of Youichi's skills, so he couldn't be both quick and careful….

"Just fuck me already." Mamori hissed, not bothering to mask her impatience or desire. She wanted to feel him, she wanted to connect with him and she didn't want to wait! In an attempt to relieve the tension in her burning crotch, she started to grind it against the nearest object, namely Youichi's leg.

"I-I'm trying!" Youichi protested, both embarrassed and even more aroused by her behavior. Fuck, she was being too distracting. How the fuck was he supposed to get the condom on in these circumstances!?

Somehow Youichi got it figured out and on. He didn't recall putting it on, all he recalled was the amazing, tight warmth of the inside of Mamori.

"Ah… fuck." Youichi groaned, shaking a bit in pleasure himself. Focusing on the rest of the world was hard when you could feel the pulse of your lover around your prick.

Mamori was wishing it had occurred to Youichi to prep her and stretch her out a bit before just plunging in. He wasn't big, but he was long and she wasn't used to having anything inside her like that. Still, there he was, shaking in barely contained pleasure above her. She smiled and let a small, joyful tear trickle down her face.

"Move!" Mamori demanded after waiting what she thought was too long. Instantly Youichi reacted and began to pump himself in and out. Moans and pleasured curses fell from his lips and filled the air as Youichi moved about inside her.

Wanting more contact, Youichi fell down onto his elbows to kiss her again. Mamori only got louder and more urgent. She began moving too, trying to meet his inward thrusts, trying to make him get even further inside her. Her hand grabbed his shoulders and held on for dear life as he rode her.

Heat, burning, passion.

Touches, kisses, moans. The two were all over the other's body, trying to bring out the loudest noises as they wound up their inner coils, trying to bring a hard, powerful climax.

Youichi came first.

"Fuck Mamori!" Youichi screamed hoarsely, his body shuddering as it lost control and let go. Mamori wiggled a bit on his softening dick and felt herself release.

The world went white and sparkled when Youichi felt Mamori clench around him in her climax. This was nothing like anything else, Youichi realized as he rode out the afterglow with her. He couldn't help but to kiss her lightly. He wanted her to know how much this meant to him….

"N-not bad…." Mamori muttered, stuttering when Youichi managed to pull out. He made a contented noise. It had been good and now he was sleepy and tired.

"Love you." Youichi muttered as he pulled Mamori close. He liked to hold those he loved close to him.

"Love you too." Mamori muttered as she snuggled in and relaxed against him. Even if Youichi still had things to learn about sex, he was more loving than any other man she had been with. She was happy there, in his arms.

And that was all that mattered.

**-back when these two were just starting to get vocal-**

Emiko's eyes shot open and her ears twitched. People were talking in Mom's room. No, it was Papa and Mom. Talking and moaning about something.

Frowning, Emiko got out of bed and decided to investigate. The door to Mom's room was shut, that meant she didn't want to be disturbed, so Emiko didn't knock or anything. She did listen for a little bit more. No one sounded in pain, so it was probably okay….

Chizue-the-dog nuzzled her knee and it made Emiko think. She wasn't going to sleep and she wasn't supposed to be up. Papa would notice if she turned on a light…. But Papa wouldn't be angry if she was unpacking because that was helping, so she should just help unpack and make Papa happy while he was busy with Mom! It was a great plan!

Emiko grabbed the flashlight from her bedroom and used it to look into one of the unpacked boxes in the kitchen. Mom showed her where everything went into the kitchen, so Emiko could put it all away. Picking up one of the smaller boxes, Emiko used her slightly sharp fingernails to cut the tab and open it up. The box was full of shiny black metal things Emiko had only seen in pictures.

Guns.

Cocking her head, Emiko wondered where the guns where supposed to go in the kitchen. Since she didn't know she was going to close the box when something caught her eye. It wasn't shiny like the guns, it was a duller black color. Carefully reaching in, Emiko grabbed the thing and pulled it out.

"Book?" Emiko looked at it. It was kind of dusty but it had a really, really cool white bat on the top. With a smile Emiko decided to open it. It was full of pictures and Papa's handwriting! Oh he must have made Emiko a book since Grandma had made her read all sorts of bad ones. Deciding the book was a precious treasure; Emiko took it back into her room and showed it to Chizue-the-dog as she looked through it. She couldn't read it, but she saw all sorts of strange pictures. It made her wonder what it said….

"Masaki-sama….!" Emiko blinked in surprise. There were lots of words and only a small picture of her doctor. Several pages of words. Emiko was confused.

After Papa and Mom stopped making noise, Emiko shut the book and put it away on her bookshelf. She would ask Papa about it later, when she wasn't tired and he wasn't busy.

Chizue jumped onto the bed and curled up next to Emiko. The two feel into a pleasant dreamland that was not bothered by strange noises or pictures.

_=_=_=_=_

I can't sleep when people talk around me, so I made it so that Emiko couldn't either. Poor thing, her parents completely forgot about her. And yes, that was the Threat Notebook she found in that box full of guns. Ominous no?


	48. 44: Opheliac

Author's Note: This school term is killing me, and here's a chapter you probably weren't expecting. There is some new pieces of information here about the truth of Teru, of Haruka, of Chizue, of Masaki, and of Youichi. This chapter doesn't really have a good place in the story, here is where I found it best to place it. My original intention was to put this chapter before the last one.

Song: Everytime Opheliac is by Emilie Autumn, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 44: Opheliac

It was a long time ago, not before Hiruma Yuuya and Saburo Teru became friends, but certainly a long time before Teru fell ill. There was a time before Saburo Chizue was introduced to Hiruma Youichi, that Chizue lived as a normal, healthy child. She had a bright smile and a curious mind. Her mother was always distressed at the amount of trouble her little Chizue's curiosity always got her into. It was a distress not unlike the one Hiruma Youichi felt concerning his daughter Hiruma Emiko when she got herself into places she didn't belong.

The sun was bright and shinning that day, of course Chizue had run out to play in it. Mom was following behind and dragging her feet and complaining about having a child with too much energy. Chizue didn't care, there was a world of people and things to explore. Meeting up with some other children from the neighborhood, Chizue joined in the game of tag, then the game of basketball, then they all went back to her house to play on the trampoline Dad got last summer.

Saburo only sat down in a lawn chair and tiredly watched over the children as they bounced up and down. Where did they find that energy?

Jumping off the trampoline when it was at its highest, Chizue let out a squeal, being up high was the funnest! Her chest had been feeling a little funny all morning but while she was in the air, surrounded by the blue sky and laughter, it exploded in pain. She couldn't find the breath to squeal, or to try and land.

In horror, Saburo watched her precious daughter go silent, her eyes dulled, and fall like a sack of potatoes down on the trampoline. The other children didn't notice it right away, thinking it was her way of playing. Chizue's motionless body bounced up and down three times before Saburo started screaming and the other children realized something was very, very wrong.

All Chizue remembered was seeing her mother run towards the trampoline, screaming. Then the world went black.

When Chizue came to she was in a hospital bed and her mother was sitting next to her, holding her hand, and crying. Chizue frowned, why was she here? She was healthy right? Was she dying?

"Mom?" Chizue asked quietly. "Am I going to die?"

Saburo only wailed more.

Masaki Atsushi had fought very hard to become the Saburo general family practitioner. Why? The Saburo family had a very successful and growing business, soon they would be rich, rich people. Rich people that Masaki and his 'trusted friends from college' or as most would call them 'partners in crime' wished to take advantage of. His eyes lit up when he heard about little Saburo Chizue having a sudden heart attack.

Little Chizue's problem was diagnosed and made out to be much more serious and complicated than it was. Poor little Chizue could had gotten some fairly basic heart surgery and some medication and would have lived a normal, happy life.

What her parents paid for and received was not what Chizue needed. She was given a heart transplant and very expensive immuno-suppressants to take for life. Chizue's problem could technically be fixed with a heart transplant, but that was only to be used in much more severe cases. The immuno-suppressants Chizue found herself taking to prevent organ rejection suppressed her immune system a little too much, leaving Chizue's body open to disease and sickly. There was another side-effect of these drugs that went by unseen: they had minor hallucinogen affects.

After the surgery, before Chizue was allowed to go home, Saburo Haruka turned to her husband.

"Why us?" Haruka asked mournfully. "What did my baby do to deserve this?"

"Things like this happen, Haruka." Teru told his wife grimly. "We'll be okay, we've got the best doctors helping Chizue."

Teru's phone rang. He opened it up.

"It's work." Teru announced.

"Th-the company-!" Haruka gasped in realization. "Who is going to take care of it?"

"I will?" Teru answered, confused by his wife's question.

"But what about Chizue? Are you going to make me take care of her all by myself!" Haruka protested.

"Haruka, I'll help when I can, but if I don't take care of the company we won't have the money to support Chizue…." Teru told his wife quietly. "I-I have to take this."

And with that Haruka was abandoned in the hospital corridor by her husband.

Everything changed and changed quickly. Chizue thought it would be okay to go back and play after the doctor released her from the hospital. Mom had worriedly allowed her outside to play. Chizue was fine, jumping around with the other kids. No one thought anything about the one kid from down the street's cough, nothing at all.

Until the next morning when Chizue woke up with a 39 degree fever and a nasty cough of her own.

It was that morning when Saburo Haruka realized just how fragile her little girl had become. As she nursed Chizue through the fever, Saburo vowed that she would be more watchful next time. That there would not be a next time, because watching her baby suffer was too much.

It was two fevers later when Chizue was told she was not allowed to leave the house anymore.

"You will play inside from now on." Saburo told her daughter.

"But my friends-!" Chizue protested, only to be cut off.

"Your friends are making you sick!" Saburo snapped. "You are not allowed to play with anyone but clean healthy children that I allow into the house, are we clear?"

"Y-yes Mom." Chizue hadn't known what else to say.

And even despite Saburo's careful eye and check over, Chizue's friends still brought disease into her house. Disease that soon found itself trying to destroy Chizue from the inside and eventually Saburo just banned children from her house entirely.

Sadly, it did not occur to Saburo that _her_ friends and her _husband's_ friends and associates were just as bad about carrying disease into the house. It did not occur to Saburo that by going to the store she was bringing in disease for her daughter to contract. Chizue caught almost anything that came into the house and spent more and more time in just her bedroom, trying to sleep off the illness.

"Mom," Chizue asked one morning, "can you get my bear?" Her bear was sitting on the dresser across the room.

"No." Saburo shook her head. "You vomited on that bear when you were little, I don't want you getting sick again."

"Oh." Chizue heard that a lot.

"You can look at it from your bed and play with it in your head." Saburo offered. "Using your imagination is a good thing."

With the hallucinogens in her system, Chizue's imagination became a twisted place. She wanted to see the sun so she imagined it in her dark room. She wanted to play with her toys, so she pretended they were there in bed with her. Her friends were in the room with her now, Chizue was happy again.

A television with a parental safe control on it was soon added to Chizue's room. This was so she could see the outside world. It'd been Teru's idea.

Chizue watched in morbid fascination as the cartoons across her screen hit and mutilated one another. She started to like them and asked for some toys of them. She knew those toys existed, the television said so. Teru hadn't minded getting them for her, he had the money and the toy store was just on the way back from home.

When the toys were finally in Chizue's hands she played with them like they did on the show. Not remembering how to be gentle, Chizue bit the toys and began to tear them apart. The sharp, broken plastic from one of the eyes cut both Chizue's lips and hands, making her cry in pain and get blood all over herself and the bed. Horrified by this, Saburo simply didn't let her daughter play with toys anymore. All toys were to be admired from afar. That would be when Chizue started to learn how to love things from afar. Her friends, her toys, her father- all of that was to be admired from afar. Don't bring things close they might break and hurt you. Mom was okay, Mom was too strong to break, Mom knew everything.

Never once did it occur to Saburo that Chizue might be a victim of physiological damage and trauma.

Not even when Chizue's tutor brought up the subject of Chizue's strange ideas. The tutor tried to correct it but all he was able to do was give Chizue the same basic education all students received in Japan. Nothing else was to stay in Chizue's mind, it's what Mom said and Mom knew everything.

"Haruka, I think it's about time that Chizue moved out." Teru announced at breakfast one morning. It was one of those few days in which Chizue wasn't sick and muddled with fever, so she was actually enjoying eating breakfast with her parents. And the sunshine, it'd been over two months since she last felt it on her skin, even if only through a window.

"Bu-but who's going to take care of her when she gets sick!" Haruka protested.

Chizue said nothing, but her eyes had lit up.

Could this mean she could go outside again?

"She hasn't been out in the world, she should at least have some experience before you up and drop her in an apartment by herself!" Haruka snapped.

"…I suppose you are right. Chizue, would you like to start working as a secretary at the company?" Teru offered.

"Yes." Chizue shocked her mother with her determined spirit. She was going to go outside and play again, that was certain!

Alas, life does not work that way.

Chizue was sick a great deal still, more so after she started working. She did good work, her superiors often said, but she was always so ill and couldn't interact with people on the level they would like. But they still wanted her around and as long as she was wanted, Chizue still had a job.

People.

Being a secretary made Chizue more people than she had in years. Chizue never grew close to anyone, but she had an amazing set of new faces to admire at home by herself in her room. Her little world was expanding as Dad had wished. Her fantasies never saw a reality and Chizue never found love like she wished to, but she knew it was there. Maybe, maybe one day she would find it.

Teru felt under the weather one day and was forced to go see Masaki right away. Fortunately Haruka's paranoia saved his life as it eventually lead to a very real diagnosis of an equally real cancer. Unfortunately the treatment, though keeping Teru alive, was weakening him much more than 'expected'. Upon falling ill and starting the battle, Teru decided he would see his daughter out into the world with a happy smile again. So another breakfast he brought up the subject of Chizue moving out once more.

"Who is going to take care of her when she gets a fever?" Haruka asked.

"A husband." Teru answered, he'd already out plenty of thought into this.

"A husband…?" Haruka tasted the words on her lips.

"That way she can have a grandchild to take over the company." Teru added absently. By this time the company had taken great importance to both Haruka and Teru. It was big, it needed to be taken care of.

"But who?" Haruka asked.

"My old friend Yuuya has a son named Youichi. He's about Chizue's age. Nice, sharp lad- very responsible. He'll be able to take care of Chizue and the company." Teru explained to his wife. He had put a lot of thought into his selection of husband for Chizue.

Haruka only smiled and agreed. She hadn't met Youichi, but her husband never led her astray with his judge of character. Youichi would be perfect if Teru thought he was.

Chizue, having tasted being out of the house and working, realized that having Mom control everything was bad. She needed to get out and be herself so she saw this marriage as an opportunity to be free. Free to play in the sun with people again.

When she first saw Youichi she found him shocking. His hair was bleach blond and eyes were startling green shards. Wicked, pointy ears and sharp teeth completed the unorthodox look. Beyond that initial shock of how he looked, there was the way he carried himself. Hiruma Youichi was a man that was always in control and he had regrets about being there in the room that day.

Chizue decided that overall, she didn't like him. He wasn't her prince charming, he was just a means to an end and seemed nice enough that he would probably take her to the hospital or feed her if she was sick. It was only a small comfort to Chizue when she saw that he thought the same of her.

The plan was to not have children or interact beyond the occasional shared meal or making sure the other was not underfoot when there were guests. Ironically Chizue found herself interacting more with Hiruma's things than Hiruma himself. This was mostly due to the fact that Hiruma Youichi was a disorganized slob when it came to his personal things in his personal space. Chizue did his laundry to keep it from stinking up her home (and to keep herself from contracting god-only-knows-what that grows in sweaty football clothes). She also found him eating anything in the kitchen, regardless of whether or not it was his purchase.

In short, Hiruma Youichi was a horrible roommate.

Chizue didn't know how to express this annoyance of his behavior back at him, mostly because Hiruma wasn't about to confront and when he was she didn't feel like it was a good time to bring it up. Shared meals were almost always conducted in silence. If she tired to talk to him when he was on his computer or watching a football game the resulting lecture was never made it worth the trouble, so she just suffered in silence.

On the day of their first wedding anniversary, a day Chizue and Hiruma didn't even bother to acknowledge, Chizue came home to see Hiruma at the television doing something football related again. She stared at him, fascinated with how the glow from the screen lit up his face. He was concentrating, it made his face still and hard, yet elegant in a way she'd never seen on a person before.

"So," Chizue began softly, "how does this game work?" What she wanted to know was why he was so obsessed with it, but she didn't know that she should ask that. It wouldn't be rude to ask it, well maybe it was. Chizue didn't want to make him mad at her today.

Hiruma blew out a large bubble of gum as he turned his gaze away from the television and onto her. One thin, elegant eyebrow had been raised and a mild curiosity was placed across his face.

Chizue said nothing, her expression calm and her head cocked to the side. She waited for an answer. He would tell her eventually, maybe. Was she not worth talking to? Some people at work thought so.

The bubble of gum popped and Hiruma wordlessly invited her to sit. With an equal lack of words Chizue took a seat on the other side of the couch, leaving a large space between them.

"It's a sport," Hiruma began, "with teams of 11 men." He then launched into an explanation of all the rules, the positions, and the tactics. Hiruma also mentioned that he played and was a quarterback.

Chizue said nothing the entire time, but she did listen and silently memorize what he said. Hiruma was so much more animated than she had ever seen him. He was alive in a way she had never been because of his love of football.

She found it beautiful.

"Any fucking questions?" Hiruma asked her. He hadn't bothered to look at Chizue much; he'd just explained the sport and showed it to her on the screen. Chizue was the housemate he hardly ever saw or spoke to. She was an awkward, timid girl. Maybe living without her mother for a year gave her the courage to talk to him?

"No." Chizue answered. "Thank you." She left the room to go close herself in hers.

Why? Because she'd been struck and was gasping in amazement. Her husband, this discrete annoyance in her life, was beautiful, alive. He was amazing and smart, clever and witty. She'd never seen it before, those amazing features of his weren't surprising or scary anymore, they were just part of his strange mystique.

Chizue held a hand to her borrowed heart and smiled.

She found love.

Hiruma had watched her leave and pondered in silence. His wife, there was something about her behind that timid exterior. He couldn't guess what it was since he hadn't bothered to do any research on her and his gut told him he was better off not knowing. Still, they _were_ married. Maybe he should get to know her a bit better than this….

Not really knowing how to love any other way but than at a distance, Chizue loved her husband from afar. She made him lunches now, did his laundry and cleaning with a smile. Whenever he was home she'd watch him discreetly, watching him make strategies, blackmail his slaves, or look over the books for his company. At night she'd imagine him beside her, in her little private world full of her childhood toys and friends. Sometimes, if Chizue felt daring and knew Hiruma was extra tired, she'd peek into his room and watch him sleep a little bit.

Because if she pulled him close, he'd break and hurt her. Mom said it was so. Hiruma was far too beautiful in mind and body to break.

Chizue also made a small change, instead of sharing silence over breakfast she'd ask about his friends, his life. The fact Hiruma never inquired the same from her never bothered her. She was only happy and fixated, discretely fixated, on his answers.

Hiruma had been confused the day Chizue started talking to him. She was coming out and asking him about himself. Being careful with his answers, Hiruma tried to guard himself away from the interrogation. He did not ask return the questions because he didn't want to have her find something in common with him. It was his gut telling him this but from what he did know of her there wasn't much there to see.

"So who is Anezaki Mamori?" Chizue asked innocently one morning.

Hiruma's expression changed dramatically. Normally it would have stayed calm and maybe slightly pleased, but this expression was different. His eyes lit up and an enormous, brilliant smile spread across his face. For once he wasn't looking at his food, but away into the distance, at something unseen.

"A friend." Hiruma answered, not using the word fucking. "She was the fucking manager of my team in high school and in college."

Chizue wasn't a fool, though the expression was new and clearly unconscious, she knew what it was. She'd seen it on television, she'd read about it in books. Hiruma was in love, completely and fully in love with this Anezaki Mamori.

"Ah." Chizue commented, her expression grew guarded and unreadable. Inside she was furious, red with jealousy. Even Anezaki had a fucking nickname! Chizue was just 'you', she wasn't even fucking wife!

Hiruma was hers right? She'd married him! …No, they had agreed to divorce if they had found someone and clearly he had and was far too in love with this woman to even bat an eye at Chizue or notice her jealously and distress across the kitchen table.

That evening Chizue was frowning and growling. Should she try and bring him close, break him but keep him from this Anezaki girl? Or should she let him go and watch him stay in love and become beautiful because of this other woman? Which was more fair to him? Which was more fair to her? Should she see if he loved her at all? How would she test him?

Chizue called her mother.

Saburo's advice had been to get his attention.

Chizue consulted her trusted doctor and friend, Masaki. He'd always taken such good care of her and given her such good advice.

Masaki had offered her drugs, more specifically proven aphrodisiacs to arouse some sexual tension in her husband.

"Just put it in his dinner, for a few nights and offer to rid him of it with some sex." Masaki advised her. Chizue took that advice to heart and one morning she offered to rid her husband of his hard on from hell with some sex.

Hiruma had been, well, startled and surprised by her actions. Chizue was a fairly unreadable when it came to her expressions and when she did express her personal feelings he wasn't around to see it. To him this offer of hers had come out of nowhere. At first he had said that he didn't need any sex right now, thank you. Thankfully Chizue didn't comment that he was currently hard as hell and seemed to understand that he needed more time before he just jumped into her bed.

Because the question had been so sudden and thrown him into such confusion, Hiruma didn't see the burning lust on Chizue's face. He didn't see how that lust made her hold her silence that morning when Hiruma said he didn't need her offer right then. Chizue knew he would come to need her, which was enough to have her keep her peace. It was only a matter of time before he tried it. Masaki said he'd suggest the notion to Hiruma should he stop by looking for medical attention. His future in her bed was now certain.

After an agonizing night of wet dreams that were tormenting him with Chizue's face, Hiruma caved in and accepted the offer but with a condition. Chizue happily agreed to the massive amount of birth control he wanted to use, she hadn't wanted to have a child mostly because she didn't know what she'd do with one. There was no way Hiruma was going to let her get pregnant because there was no way he was going to attempt to deal with a child in this coexistence sort of relationship they had.

Since Hiruma finally agreed, Chizue did some research to really, really draw his attention to her and her love. Hiruma didn't quite expect her to act almost like a porn star in bed and was even more confused by what possessed her to act that way. It had been wonderful sex, felt great and corrected any of his previous fantasies and ignorance on the subject. But that night had been awkward, Chizue was trying too hard to make him enjoy it with no motive he could find….

For Chizue that night had just been a dream come true. Watching Hiruma moan and quiver with pleasure had been immensely satisfactory. She watched his green eyes light up with the orgasm and found herself screaming along with him. In every spare moment she had after that night, she recalled it, him and was happy. But she had to know, what did he want? How was he thinking about it? Did he desire her?

Waiting several days of careful stalking and observing, Chizue finally decided to take her facts and interpret them to see if any of her burning questions had answers.

Hiruma had been, unsettled and shocked by the experience. He'd been driven closer to Anezaki than he had been before and further away from Chizue. He was confused and upset and he certainly didn't want anything to do with that again.

In short, he was starting to break.

Chizue felt horrible and the resulting guilt was enough to keep her from attempting it again for a while. But her jealously, her ugly, unseen jealously grew stronger and darker as time passed. Especially since Hiruma was seeking comfort from Anezaki because of the experience.

Hiruma was going to be broken, Chizue decided, her guilt was gone and the jealously had won out.

Systematically, Chizue set about breaking Hiruma only to realize the man was not easily broken. He was strong, like Mom. He would not break under her power, he could crack and bend, but he would not break.

To Hiruma he couldn't afford to break, Takekura and the rest of his team needed him. He had to be strong and sturdy for them and he had to hide his secret marriage from them. But oh was Chizue making things hard. He swore and cursed this medical condition. Obliviously his current practitioner wasn't being of much help, there had to be another way to deal with this fucking thing and Hiruma was going to find it!

Chizue realized this and started to give up. Anezaki had won Hiruma from her fair and square, so Chizue was going to stop after one last time. She wanted some good memories of their so-called love before she went. A world where she could not have what she loved was unfathomable for Chizue, so she did not want to live in it.

Of course after being alive so long, Chizue was a little hesitant to just end her life abruptly, especially since her parents and Masaki had tried so hard to keep her alive as long as she had been. There was added confusion as well because she stopped taking her heart medication with no reason. Something was just keeping her from taking it, something important was whispering in her ear not to.

When the nausea and the cramping kicked in, Hiruma just took her to the doctor to have it looked at right away. Masaki wasn't in that day, but the female doctor that was did comment that she suspected that Chizue was pregnant.

Horrified, Chizue did nothing while she waited for the test to come in. If she was pregnant, she didn't want to kill the baby. She might not know what to do with a baby, but it should live right? Killing the baby would be easy and she wanted there to be some proof she loved Hiruma, that their marriage had meant something…!

Then the letter arrived, congratulating Chizue on her conception. Nervous, Chizue had gone and seen Masaki right away. Sadly her doctor only had a small bit of news Chizue already knew.

"If you stop taking your heart medication, your body will reject your heart and you will die." Masaki told her. "If you continue to take your medication you will risk deforming or miscarrying. I promise you that if you go through with having this child it will kill you."

Chizue only nodded. She wanted the baby and she didn't want to live. This was the best choice, she thought. It had been nerve wracking to gather the courage to tell Hiruma about the baby. It was his and as her husband he did have some say in what was happening.

With tears in her eyes, Chizue told him she didn't want to kill it.

Hiruma, after a bit of guilt ridden thought, agreed that having the baby was okay, _but_ he didn't want it to grow up in a loveless household like theirs. Despite being enraged that Hiruma would not allow the possibility of raising the child themselves, Chizue agreed to allow the child to be taken to an adoption agency after its birth. It was the only way she'd be able to justify carrying the child full term in her husband's eyes.

Despite being now in a state of dying, Chizue was happier than she had been. She had managed to win Hiruma's attention. She had gotten him to willingly come into her bed whenever her sexual desires rose up. He'd kissed her when she asked him to. That meant he had come to love her right?

Hiruma hid it from Chizue, he hid how very disturbed and upset he was. He hid how cracked he was becoming from her. He hid it from everyone. Because Hiruma knew, painfully well, that his friends would only scorn him for doing this to himself and hiding this marriage from them. He knew that Chizue was a very self-centered, spoiled woman who almost never considered his feelings; she would probably laugh at his distress. Showing weakness before his wife was not an option. Still, no one knew how much Hiruma suffered during that pregnancy.

It would be over in nine months and life would return to normal. At least that's what Hiruma told himself, even if he did find it deluded. Those lies were the only thing keeping him going and sane some days.

As the pregnancy progressed, both Hiruma and Chizue found themselves talking about various things the child would need or that Chizue would need to produce a healthy baby. The selection of the adoption agency had a lot of research put into it since Hiruma did not want to be involving another couple that would be completely aware of his secret. Neither did Chizue, when she died Hiruma would be much more inclined to take care of the baby nor was there need to get some other couple's hopes up needlessly.

Eventually the subject of names came up.

"We should give our baby a name," Chizue announced, her hand on her swollen belly, "that's the least we can do for it."

"Name…." Hiruma muttered, thinking. His fucked up wife had a point, the child needed a name.

"…If it's a girl I want her to be 'Emiko'." Chizue went on, caressing the child she loved so dearly. This child would be her final gift to the world and her first gift to her husband, of course she loved it dearly. It helped it could not be harmed since it was inside her.

"Emiko?" Hiruma frowned. "That means 'smiling child'…. Why that name?"

"I want my child to grow up in a world of smiles. I want my baby to grow up smiling." Chizue told Hiruma. "Because I didn't." She'd grown up in a dark room cut off from the world.

Hiruma didn't either, but he didn't tell Chizue that.

"'Katsuo.'" Hiruma said after a bit. "If it is a boy I want him to be Katsuo."

"Why Katsuo?" Chizue asked.

"It means 'victorious'," Hiruma explained, "I want him to succeed and win."

Chizue frowned, not liking the name, but if her love wanted to name the baby Katsuo….

"Okay." Chizue relented. "If it is a boy he will be Katsuo."

Two days later the prenatal doctor told them they were having a baby girl and Chizue stopped worrying about her child having a dumb name like Katsuo. She was going to give birth to 'Hiruma Emiko' after all. Her choice of name and it would suit the child well. Chizue was happy.

"What do you think of becoming a Daddy?" Chizue asked Hiruma one afternoon. It was one of those rare occasions where he had put his hand on her belly to feel the child move. Hiruma did it erratically because he was struggling with his feelings about his unborn daughter and her mother.

"Disattached." Hiruma answered. "It's not in my body and I won't see her after she's born."

"Ah. Would Daddy mind helping me with something?" Chizue asked. She always pictured Hiruma as a 'Daddy' and called him such.

"What?" Hiruma hid his fear. He didn't want her to know he was afraid of her and what she might do to him.

"Would Daddy kiss me?" Chizue asked.

"Uh, sure."

Chizue thought Hiruma was going to be a great Daddy. He really did want what was best for Emiko, even if she hadn't been born yet. He was staying strong and not breaking despite how Chizue held him close.

She was happy.

She knew she was broken and messed up, but she was happy.

At the end of her pregnancy, Chizue had found herself having trouble coming to terms with dying. She wanted to see Emiko, she wanted to watch her baby grow and love her parents. But Chizue knew that someone in their little family had to leave for this to work. She was going to die so that Hiruma and Emiko could be together. She knew that Hiruma would love that child if he held it. He was the sort of man that took responsibility seriously, especially about children.

When she went into labor and arrived at the hospital, Chizue called a nurse over.

"I-I'm going to say something I will regret." Chizue told the nurse. She knew about her mean streak. "I know that my husband and I requested our child be put into the adoption clinic but-"

"But?" The nurse asked.

"-But please put Emiko in her father's arms before you take her there. I-if he wants to keep her, let him." Chizue requested.

"M-ma'am?" The nurse was confused.

"I'm going to die today," Chizue confessed, "but I want Emiko and Youichi to live together, please, please make sure he holds her at least once."

"I-I will." The nurse promised.

Hiruma had been at practice when he got the phone call from the nurse. All he could say was 'fuck' and run out the door, barely sparing time to grab his things. He had a lie prepared in case this happened, he was going to claim it'd been his old man. But even so, he couldn't help but to worry. Somehow, for the first time, he really felt like he was going to become a father. It was scary. So very scary….

Childbirth hurt.

A lot.

Chizue could feel her strength pouring out of her along with the blood. She screamed in fear at Hiruma. She was hard and mean to him, she knew it and couldn't find the words to say she was sorry. When she felt the child leave her, her body went stiff and her breath was gone.

Frozen now, Chizue watched the world like it was a television screen. From far away she watched Hiruma get pulled away, her blood on his face. He looked dead.

Huh, so she broke him after all. No matter, Emiko would put him back together.

The doctors' voices were quiet and far away. There was a lot of frantic blurred movement and then Chizue saw her. Emiko.

She had her Daddy's ears.

"E-emiko…." Chizue gasped.

The world went black and Chizue knew no more.

* * *

And now we know all about the tragedy that was Saburo Chizue. This is the last you will see of her. And yes, there is some very important information here that ties into what happened at the end of the last chapter.


	49. 45: Darker Side of Me

Author's Note: This is the start of the final arc of the story. Yes, that does mean I am drawing this thing to an end soon.

Song: Darker Side of Me is by Veer Union, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 45: Darker Side of Me

Emiko trotted into the kitchen with a groggy Hiruma behind her. She'd gotten woken up by the neighbor's car backfiring, resulting in Hiruma being pulled out of bed half an hour earlier than he wanted to be. Anezaki could sleep through Emiko's wake up calls and cars backfiring, or she was damn good at faking it because she was still in bed. A fact that Hiruma was quite jealous of.

Smiling, Emiko got on the little painter's ladder they had left by the calendar for her. For once Emiko had expressed wanting to know what day of the week it was, so Hiruma showed her how to use the calendar. Every morning started off with going to the calendar and making an 'x' on the new day. Emiko studied her handiwork, like she normally did while Hiruma went to get the coffee pot to start working.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven." Emiko counted off days, tapping in each box on the calendar as she did.

Pause.

Hiruma rubbed his eyes again, did what kind of significance did seven days hold? Ah, it's too fucking early for this….

"That's a week." Hiruma remarked lamely after a few more seconds of silence.

"One week…!" Emiko muttered in awe. "The Rice Bowl is in one week!" Emiko squealed happily.

Hiruma, on the other hand, just about dropped his coffee cup. He turned and looked at Emiko and the calendar. Sure enough, one week from today was 'Rice Bowl' written in Anezaki's neat handwriting. Emiko was beaming and rightfully so. She's been looking forward to this for some time.

For Emiko, this Rice Bowl was going to be her first live game. It was going to be the first time she saw Papa play live. It was going to be awesome, that much was certain. All Hiruma knew was that he didn't want to face Emiko unless he won, good game or not.

"Park today!" Emiko announced, pointing at today.

"Yeah, its park day." Hiruma smiled. It seemed like years ago since he last took Emiko to the park, this was their first time in a long time.

"Mom coming?" Emiko asked as she got down and went to sit at the kitchen table.

"No." Hiruma answered. "This is Papa-Emiko only time." Going to the park was something he did with Emiko and he was very protective of that father-daughter bonding time. Anezaki had understood and pointed out that he would have to allow her to take Emiko out for some Mom-Emiko time. Begrudgingly, Hiruma did agree since he knew it would be what was best for Emiko in the long term. Letting go of his domination over Emiko's time was going to be hard for both of them.

Emiko smiled.

After hearing the coffee pot ding, Hiruma prepared himself some much needed caffeine. He looked out at Emiko's smiling face and found himself returning the expression. Today was going to be great, that much Hiruma already knew.

"Papa?" Emiko asked, making eye contact with the floor.

"Emiko, eye contact." Hiruma reminded her, pointing at his eyes. Wandering brown eyes, got reigned in and bored into Hiruma's green ones. Holding eye contact with Emiko was difficult because her face was this half-made perma-poker mask. Being her father made Hiruma very used to looking at Emiko's face and its lack of expressions.

"Why were you and Mom making funny noises last night?"

…Maybe not such a great day after all.

"Funny noises?" Anezaki asked when she came into the kitchen with a yawn.

"Yeah! In Mom's bedroom!" Emiko clarified.

Anezaki's eyes widened and she turned to Hiruma, clearly mortified. Hiruma only took another sip of his coffee. Too fucking early for this.

"We were having sex." Hiruma answered. "And I'm not going to explain anything else about it until you are older."

"….Babies, sex makes babies?" Emiko asked herself trying to see if she recalled the facts right.

"Yes." Hiruma answered again. Anezaki could only stare at both of them, how could they talk about such a mature and vulgar subject with ease? Before breakfast even!

"Am I a big sister?" Emiko clearly hadn't had pregnancy explained to her, but she did know how it began and ended.

"N-no no!" Anezaki waved her hands, a little flustered.

"No?" Emiko didn't like that. Her increased rocking said so.

"We were practicing." Hiruma explained quickly as he discretely moved over to Anezaki and calmed her by setting his arm over her shoulders. "If you don't practice you can't expect the play to work."

Emiko nodded seriously.

"If you ever feel uncomfortable with one of Emiko's questions, just tell her you don't want to talk about it." Hiruma whispered his advice to Anezaki in her ear. "Or just answer her bluntly and unembellished."

Anezaki nodded.

"Whatever you do, don't lie to her." Hiruma added as he walked over to where Emiko was sitting. Anezaki watched him walk in silence.

Hiruma had just reminded her again how much he had changed. A man that was once full of lies and deceit was now honest and straightforward. He was once devilish and out of control, now he was in perfect control and fatherly.

Green eyes with a hint of amused mischief in them turned and met hers.

Letting out a small giggle, Anezaki began to prepare breakfast. Hiruma's eyes had said many things to her, the most important of which was that he was still the man she knew from high school and college. Stealing a glance at the father-daughter pair, Anezaki faintly wondered when Emiko would be introduced to that side of her father. Or did she already know?

"Oi, Mamori!" Hiruma called over from the kitchen table. "I need you to make us a picnic basket, its park day."

"Park!" Emiko emphasized happily.

After shooting a quick glance at the calendar, Anezaki saw the scheduled event of the day and nodded. It was strange hearing him call her 'Mamori' as opposed to 'fucking mother' or 'fucking manager', even though this had been happening for a few months now. Still, she liked the sound of it on his lips.

"Thanks."

**Later, at the park**

Football is fun.

Really fun.

Most fun thing ever!

"Square out!" Hiruma cried as he pulled back the ball and watched Emiko run out across the grassy field. She'd ran out of her shoes about an hour ago and Hiruma hadn't bothered to try and convince her to put them on again. Instead, he let Emiko run about in the slightly muddy ground barefoot. It did make her feet and pants a mess, but that extremely bright smile made him not care. Besides, there was a towel in the car, its not like he wouldn't have to use it anyways.

Emiko smiled and ran, her pigtails bouncing as she carefully followed the pass route. Once she had mastered the basics of throwing and receiving, Papa had taught her the pass routes. It was important for both quarterbacks and receivers to know these and Emiko was going to be a quarterback someday. This she was certain of.

Eyeing his daughter carefully, Hiruma predicted when she'd be in position and threw the ball. It would arrive at the time Emiko was in position and the spiral and speed were both appropriate for Emiko's catching ability. That meant that actually catching it would be up to Emiko and her skill. Hiruma held his breath and watched carefully, a bit nervous. Would Emiko succeed? Would she fail? Would she get hurt?

Emiko glanced and saw the incoming ball. Good spiral, nice speed, right on course for the pass route. Putting on a hair more speed and putting her arms up as she approached the end of the pass route, Emiko mentally readied herself for the impact of the ball in her hands.

Spread your fingers to give yourself the best grip on it, thumbs together for a high throw, pinkies for a low, let your arms give and come in with the ball, trap it right away to prevent stealing, be ready to run once the ball is secure, be wary of the defense, but do not let them prevent you from catching it. These were Papa's words, the words Papa told Emiko about catching over the course of her young life.

Hiruma let out the breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding. Emiko caught it beautifully, trapping the ball against her chest and making a quick glance around for defense. Now that she successfully caught it, Hiruma could run over and run some pass route of Emiko's design. Today they were playing with a small ball that would be better suited to Emiko's small hands, but they didn't always play with a small ball. Every third time, Hiruma would bring out a full-sized, legal football. Being a girl, Emiko would always have small hands which would give her a disadvantage on the legal sized ball. So to compensate for this, Hiruma decided she would simply grow up using one. The smaller ball was for practicing things like spirals and speed control, things that were both easier with a proportional ball. The official sized ball was, for right now, just for throwing.

The progress Emiko had been making with the official sized ball was visible over time, but not enough that Emiko was satisfied with her progress. If Hiruma had brought the official sized ball there was no doubt in his mind Emiko would wind up having a bad day.

"Hail Mary." Emiko remarked when Papa arrived, her eyes fixed on the ball in her hands. Hiruma nodded once and set off to run out a long distance. Getting into a throwing stance, Emiko had a look around to survey her 'field'. There was a guy standing by a tree whose face was familiar. Emiko paused and looked at the guy carefully, trying to remember where she saw his face.

"Papa's book….!" Emiko muttered in awe.

"Papa!" Emiko called out, distracted by the appearance of the man. "That guy's in your book!"

Hiruma stopped running and turned around with a frown. What the heck was Emiko on about now? He knew she was easily distracted but….

"What book?" Hiruma asked as he ran back.

"The black one with the white bat on the cover." Emiko answered. "I found it in the box with the guns in it in the kitchen."

It took Hiruma exactly three seconds to realize that not only had Emiko been messing around with his guns, but knew where they were. Then, after four seconds of unexpressed panic, Hiruma realized that perhaps he should think about the book. ….Book? With a white bat on a black background?

"You wrote in it a lot!" Emiko explained some more since Papa wasn't remembering. "And there were lots of photographs of people doing strange things! That guy was wearing a tutu!"

Hiruma followed Emiko's pointing to see a man standing next to the tree. The man was staring back at them, sweating bullets since Emiko was speaking very loudly and he wasn't far away to begin with. Without thinking Hiruma had begun to reach into his back pocket to pull out his threat notebook to look the man up, but the notebook wasn't there.

Green eyes widened when the owner did recognize both the description of the book Emiko spoke of and the man. The man was Youshikuni Masato, he had a habit of wearing little girl's used clothing, even if it broke. He had a picture of the man in a tutu in the threat notebook, a book that had been packed away with the guns and left in the kitchen during the move. A book Emiko had found and looked through.

_Shit!_ Was the only thing Hiruma could think. The one thing in the whole world he did not want Emiko to see, she had seen.

Panic was starting to set in and the man, Youshikuni, was starting to get uncomfortable. Of course Youshinkuni recognized Hiruma, who wouldn't with those pointed ears and bleached hair? Clearly that little girl was the spawn of the devil, she'd seen the threat notebook and looked like her father far too much. Should he run before the devil decided to do something?

"Papa," Emiko tugged on Papa's pant leg, "what did you write about Masaki-sensei in the book?"

Blink. Oh that's right, Emiko can't read she can only recognize letters and a handful of words. Hiruma let out a small relieved breath, it's a damn good thing Emiko can't read. But her words made him think, why did he write a lot about their family doctor in the threat notebook? The man must have done something….

"I don't remember." Hiruma answered Emiko.

"Why is that guy in the book?" Emiko asked, still pointing.

"Because he was both stupid and creepy. Stay away from him, okay?" Hiruma did not want that creep around his daughter.

"Okay!" Emiko nodded, waved at the creepy guy then readied the football. Youshinkuni had decided to run away, not looking back to see the football game had resumed. All he knew was that Hiruma Youichi was back, with a kid, and still had that bloody book!

**The Anezaki-Hiruma Residence, 4 pm**

"Welcome home!" Anezaki smiled as she opened the front door to let her boyfriend and his daughter into the house. It had started raining earlier so she was not surprised the two had come home early. But she was surprised to see that Hiruma was covered in more filth than Emiko.

"Papa fell in the mud! He's dirty he has to have a bath~!" Emiko explained loudly then pranced off into the back of the house, barely remembering to take off her shoes.

"Did you really?" Anezaki asked slightly worried. Did he hurt himself?

"Ah, it was just a low throw." Hiruma explained. Emiko had thrown him a low bomber she claimed he couldn't catch. He did catch it at the expense of crashing into the ground. Though he was not injured, he did get winded and covered in mud.

"…Something's on your mind." Anezaki whispered knowingly at Hiruma. She did this to avoid having Emiko hear.

"Papa!" Emiko cried as she came running back, "see, Masaki-sensei is in the book!"

Anezaki turned around and saw, much to her horror, the infamous threat notebook in Emiko's hands. She had opened it to specific page that showed a small picture of Masaki, the family doctor, on it. Hiruma stepped forward and started to read the page, his serious expression alarming Anezaki. What was going on?

"Ah, yes, I need to see that." Hiruma remarked seriously and snatched the book out of Emiko's confused hands. He flipped through the pages quickly, saying nothing, with a blank expression.

"Y-youichi?" Anezaki asked softly, her expression and tone worried. She didn't know what was happening, but she didn't like the way it was going….

"That fucker!" Hiruma snapped loudly, his expression absolutely venomous. "That **mother fucker!"**

Emiko backed away, frightened.

Papa never acted like this.

Ever.

Yeah, the ominous chapter ending. Sorry to disappoint with this short chapter then the horrible cliffhanger, but I was intending this chapter to be both short and suspenseful. I will warn you this is the very last arc in this story.


	50. 46: You're Gonna Pay

Author's Note: I live, life's been chaos, and here's your chapter.

Song: You're Gonna Pay by the Undertaker, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 46: You're Gonna Pay

_ "That fucker!" Hiruma snapped loudly, his expression absolutely venomous. "That __**mother fucker!"**_

_ Emiko backed away, frightened._

_ Papa never acted like this. _

_ Ever._

The swearing did not stop there, no that was only the beginning of what was the scariest experience in Emiko's life.

Anezaki took a step back, shocked by Hiruma's reaction. He never lost his cool, sure she'd seen him angry and enraged about things, but not like this. She'd never seen him start yelling and swearing or stomping like this. He marched into the living room and started to throw things (pillows thankfully) about (mostly at walls).

**"That fucking bastard!"** Hiruma roared as he picked up a vase and flung it violently at the couch. The vase did not break, but the flowers and water inside it went flying everywhere.

Emiko stood in the door way, rocking side to side with her eyes fixed on her father. She wasn't sure what to think, what to believe. Her insides were twisted up so hard, she couldn't cry or scream, it was as if both things were taken from her. All Emiko knew was that something had to stop him, something had to come and make everything better, but what? Emiko couldn't do anything to reach him.

Anezaki came into the room and was trying to restore it as Hiruma created more mess. She was downright amazed he hadn't actually broken anything yet, but he was certainly making a massive amount of chaos in her home.

Hiruma roared and punched a wall, breaking the plaster beneath his fist. Then he froze, perfectly, eerily still.

"You-youichi?" Anezaki asked tentatively. Was he calm?

Crunch.

Thunk.

Hiruma had _broken_ the threat notebook with his own hands. The soiled pages and carefully pasted photographs were now wafting to the floor to join the snapped spine and torn cover. Black and white, sin and salvation, all over the floor with the disarrayed furniture and Emiko.

"Emiko!" Anezaki gasped, staring at the child in horror. Emiko had fallen to her knees and was perfectly still. Her expression was that of agony and sharp tears were running from her wide open eyes. She looked stuck, trapped, unable to move from her spot.

Hiruma was shaking, his blood running fast, his mind a blur of thought and rage. Masaki- that fucking damned doctor- had purposely misdiagnosed patients for the sake of personal profit. That mother fucking bastard had purposefully created suffering for the sake of his wallet. Suffering that led to suffering of those around the victims…!

Chizue, Saburo Chizue, had been one Masaki's 70 victims. She had been forced to have a heart transplant for what was a fairly light case, then given minor hallucinogens taken at too high a dose to encourage her being bedridden and frail. He had also failed to administer an alternative heart medication when she was pregnant. Masaki had single-handedly closed the door on Chizue's hope for a normal life because it would make more money.

Haruka, Saburo Haruka, had been one of Masaki's 70 victims. She had been suspected of having dementia for a while, Masaki did nothing. In fact he encouraged the woman to continue to partake in behavior that would only worsen her condition. Because of her trust and lack of mental stability, Masaki was getting tips and bribes from Haruka, fattening his wallet.

Teru, Saburo Teru, had been one of Masaki's 70 victims. He had cancer and his medication had been administered such that it prolonged his recovery. He had not been taken into assisted living or a nursing home. Haruka had been advised to not do this. By keeping Teru away from professional care, Masaki protects his practice and is allowed to charge Haruka and Teru through the nose for medication.

Emiko, Hiruma Emiko, had been one of Masaki's 70 victims. Masaki had seen to it that Chizue was given particularly vague prenatal instruction. He had seen Emiko's autism and said nothing about it, hoping that the resulting mental trauma of growing up different would eventually lead to a need for therapy or suicidal tendencies. Only when the situation got bad would he hail a potential diagnosis in an attempt to make himself out to be the trustworthy hero. That's why Masaki had supported Haruka's attempts to gain custody of the child.

Youichi, Hiruma Youichi was almost one of Masaki's 70 victims. He had been prescribed LSD for having hallucinations of his dead wife. He had been a victim of rape and was not recommended for psychological care. He had lived a six year self-enforced exile that Masaki allowed, knowing Hiruma's mental state would only get worse over time under the conditions instead of better. The only reason Masaki was thwarted was because Hiruma saw his company psychiatrist, Yukimitsu, about the matter instead of anyone Masaki referred him to.

Even if Hiruma hadn't loved Chizue, that woman had done nothing deserving of this so-called doctor's practice. Haruka and Teru both caused suffering for those around them because of their conditions and Emiko-!

No one fucks around with Emiko.

Ever.

Enlightened, that's how Hiruma felt, enlightened that all of the suffering caused by his marriage to Chizue could be tied back to one man. For once, there was a villain, with a name and face. Hiruma was going to mess that man up so bad when he got his hand on him.

_Dink!_

Hiruma blinked, finding the noise strange. Slowly he turned his head, his rage, towards the source. But it all fell away the moment he saw the source.

Anezaki was sitting next to Emiko looking panicked and Emiko looked like she dead. She was perfectly still save the salty tears running down her face. Big brown eyes stared at Hiruma, her face a permanent expression of horror.

"N-no…!" Hiruma whispered into the silent room, his own expression matching Emiko's. He fell to his knees, all the rage washed away to be replaced with horror. What had he done? What **had **_**he **__**done!**_

Papa stopped. Papa was hurt.

Emiko pulled her head back and wailed, the pain finally reaching a climax such that she could act again. Everything was so wrong, so painful, so unfair. She was distressed and confused and did everything she could to rid herself of these feelings.

Anezaki was shocked to hear Emiko suddenly start screaming after so much silence. She was even more shocked to see the resulting tantrum that accompanied the screaming. Emiko was literally on the floor thrashing and spaziming, her wailing and crying hadn't slowed.

Looking at Hiruma showed the man was now tired, upset, guilty, and unhappy. A few tears had fallen from his eyes, something Anezaki had not expected. He leaned against the wall, looking down at Emiko looking defeated and dejected.

Deep breath to steady the nerves, Anezaki moved to try and stop Emiko.

"Don't." Hiruma muttered. Despite it being quite in comparison to Emiko's screams, Anezaki heard it perfectly. Shaking her head, Anezaki grabbed Emiko's flailing hand only to have the girl turn on her, her expression frightened and angry, and struggle to free her hand. Persisting, Anezaki held on firmly only to see Emiko had a much stronger convection than her.

Emiko bit Anezaki's arm, the one that was holding her hand. That little befanged girl bit hard and quick, drawing blood and releasing her mouth the exact moment Anezaki let go. Now with a bit of Anezaki's blood smeared across her mouth, Emiko continued to have her tantrum on the floor.

Long pale hands reached down around from behind and grasped Anezaki's wounded forearm. It took her a moment to realize it was Hiruma holding her arm and that he was being very gentle.

"Emiko bites when she's like this." Hiruma mumbled thoughtfully. "She hasn't been like this in a long while…." Regret laced his tone. Only now did Anezaki notice the tiny white doted scars up Hiruma's forearms. They were subtle, but it was clear he'd had his share of getting bit by a very upset Emiko in the past.

Anezaki said nothing, she had disregarded the warning after all.

"…It's best to let her get it all out." Hiruma added. "Let's uh, clean up so she won't hurt herself on anything…." More guilt, more regret.

"Yeah." Anezaki agreed. With a pained slowness, Hiruma went about righting the furniture, restoring the pillows and vases to where they belonged. Anezaki went straight for the remains of the threat notebook, wondering what in the world did it have inside to cause this mess…..

It did not take long for Anezaki to find the source of the trouble, the pages she wanted to see had not fallen far from the book's spine. Doctor Masaki Atsushi, a family practitioner, was swindling misdiagnoser. From what was in the threat notebook there were 69 victims, a number that had surely increased since Hiruma had last updated the notebook over six years ago. Amongst this man's victims included the entire Saburo family, especially Chizue.

This information made Anezaki steal a glance at Hiruma. No, there was no mourning in him, not towards Chizue anyways. He was full of suffering from what he did to Emiko.

…Hiruma had respected Chizue, that much Anezaki knew. She wondered how much of that rage had been because of Chizue all the same.

It took twenty minutes to clean the room. It took Anezaki four minutes to decide and place the remains of the threat notebook on the kitchen table. When she arrived in the kitchen to do this, she saw that Hiruma had gotten out the first aid kit. Wordlessly, Anezaki held up her arm for Hiruma to disinfect and dress.

"…I'm sorry." Hiruma apologized softly.

"…I saw what was in the book," Anezaki began, "you had a right to be angry."

"Not like that." Hiruma muttered and stood up again. Anezaki followed him into the living room and joined the silent vigil over Emiko. Eventually Emiko's movements grew less and less violent, her screaming grew softer, and eventually she calmed and stilled, passed out on the floor.

Hiruma rubbed his forehead tiredly for a moment, then got up. Delicately he lifted Emiko from the ground and carried her into her bedroom. Knowing what to do wordlessly, Anezaki had prepared a warm, moist towel to dry Emiko's tears with. Hiruma was the one to wipe them away. Anezaki was the one to undress Emiko, while Hiruma put her up in her favorite pajamas. Chizue the dog appeared out of one of the other backrooms and curled up next to Emiko once she was tucked in.

"…." Hiruma carefully undid the ribbons in Emiko's hair and ruffled it loose. He bent down and kissed Emiko's forehead.

"I'm sorry." Hiruma whispered and pulled away. Touching his arm, Anezaki followed him into their bedroom.

"Youichi," Anezaki began her voice emotional and quite, "what are we going to do?"

Hiruma did not say anything, he just sat down on the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them close and staring at the wall. There was no doubt in his mind that something had to be done about Masaki. Something had to be done about what just happened with Emiko, something had to be done about the Rice Bowl…. There were no good answers in a situation like this.

Softly, Anezaki took a seat next to him and gently wrapped her arms about his shoulders for a hug. She had promised herself a while back, when they first agreed on their everyday visits dating thing, that she would remain by his side no matter how hard it got. At the best of times Hiruma was not an easy person to follow, he had habits to choose the hardest path for the sake of the challenge or for the sake of making himself stronger. Despite having Emiko in his life, Hiruma still continued to make choices based on making a clearer path for Emiko, even if they did cost him dearly.

"…I don't know." Hiruma answered lamely after several minutes of thinking. He didn't know, he just didn't.

"…I have an idea." Anezaki muttered gently.

She felt Hiruma perk up and become attentive in her arms.

"Let's just take things one step at a time." Anezaki suggested. "First we deal with Emiko when she wakes up, then we prepare for the Rice Bowl, then we deal with Masaki."

Those words stirred a memory in Hiruma.

_"Emiko, calm down." Hiruma held his daughter's frantic hands in his own in an attempt to calm her. "Just take a breath and say it, one word at a time."_

_ Emiko made a face and rocked a bit, despite her hands being held in place._

_ "Its okay, we have time, lots of time." Hiruma told her. "There's no need to rush anything."_

_ "Step by step?" Emiko asked quietly._

_ "Yes, step by step." Hiruma smiled a bit. "It's best to take things step by step as they come."_

_ "…Okay." Emiko nodded, determined._

"Can't even take my own advice." Hiruma muttered with a sardonic chuckle.

"Sounds like you." Anezaki smiled and ruffled Hiruma's hair.

"I want to kill that fucking doctor." Hiruma remarked. "But I can't decide if I want to make him suffer or just get it over with quickly." Somehow his words did not surprise Anezaki. She knew he was saying them to try and get rid of their feelings.

"Wouldn't it be better to make him suffer and live with it?" Anezaki suggested. "Like his patients did, he should have to live with the consequences of his choices."

"Ruin him?" Hiruma tasted the words on his tongue while he thought about it. "My, my fucking mother, I can't say I was expecting you to be devious."

"Mothers don't take well to having their babies get hurt." Anezaki explained, ruffling Hiruma's hair again to imply he might be one of her babies. Hiruma made an agreeing noise and just sat there with her. Anezaki calmed him and he needed to be calm when Emiko woke up.

The clicking of the dog's paws altered the parents that Emiko was awake and coming into the room. She was tired and her eyes were still a bit puffy, but she was set on being awake and coming into the room. Hiruma and Anezaki straightened up and changed their position such that they were just sitting next to each other and not touching.

After climbing up onto the bed, Emiko went straight for Papa, giving him a hug. Surprised Hiruma could only stare down at Emiko in wonder. Why was she doing this?

"Its okay," Emiko mumbled into Hiruma's shirt, "Papa was just having a bad day."

It's always amazing to hear your own words come back to you, Hiruma realized. He had forgotten that whenever Emiko had a tantrum and broke something or bit him, he'd tell her it was okay, that she'd just been having a bad day.

Come to think of it, Hiruma really did have a tantrum, he had acted no differently than Emiko did when she had one. Well, except the swearing part, Emiko would had been growling instead.

"Yeah, I had a bad day." Hiruma agreed.

Emiko squeezed a little tighter.

"It should go away soon." Emiko muttered. That was her phrase that meant she just wanted whatever was going on to be over already.

"I'm feeling better now." Hiruma told Emiko. "Thank you for coming to comfort me."

Emiko pulled away and smiled, happy to be praised. She then turned to face Mom.

"Mom, Papa is not in trouble." Emiko told Anezaki firmly, her expression serious.

"No, he's not." Anezaki agreed and got a smile directed at her.

Masaki would pay for what he did, that much had been decided on. But scums like him were not as important as the here and now of their family.

And Hiruma wouldn't have it any other way.

The thirst for this man's blood is causing more than a little bit of trouble.


	51. 47: Play the Game Tonight

Author's Note: Well, I admit I got distracted by an engineering student design competition recently. We were going to Internationals in Canada and it was kind of a big deal for us. Even more so when we got first place.

Yes, I'm a world champion engineer. Not many can say that.

Song: Play the Game Tonight is by Kansas, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 47: Play the Game Tonight

Two days before the Rice Bowl and Kakei found himself sitting across the table from someone he hadn't expected to see. Hiruma had scheduled a meeting rather randomly two days before the Rice Bowl. Kakei was sure there was significance to having the meeting at this time, but it was lost on him.

Since Emiko's diagnosis, there had been once a month therapy sessions between Mizumachi and Emiko. Kakei was aware that this was too small an amount, the girl should have weekly meetings considering her age and state of development. Unfortunately the Welfare Center did not have enough personnel to provide such a service, so once a month was the best they could do. Mizumachi did find ways around this, however, and prepared a means by which Hiruma and Anezaki could provide Emiko help themselves. Most of what Emiko would need, Mizumachi realized, was guidance and immediate correction of social behaviors. Those were the sort of things fell on the parents anyways because a therapist could not be on hand every day, all day, like a parent was.

Normally Kakei would have a yearly check up with Emiko's case in a meeting that would house Emiko, Hiruma, and Mizumachi. Should Anezaki marry Hiruma, she would be invited to attend the meetings as well. So having a meeting between himself and Hiruma outside of that seemed a bit odd.

"I'm taking Emiko to the Rice Bowl and I don't want her to be over-stimulated by it," Hiruma announced without any preamble, "how do I do this?"

Not what Kakei had been expecting but it had made sense. Mizumachi's specialty was therapy and treatment, Kakei handled affairs but he also handled finding an appropriate tool to suit the disabled child's need. Hiruma had come to him because he was fairly sure he could use tools as opposed to technique in this case.

"Has she seen videos of football games?" Kakei asked.

"Hundreds of times," Hiruma answered.

"Have you given her a clear picture of what it's like to be in the stands live?" Kakei was just going through basics to gather information.

"Yes."

"Her biggest stressors are going to be the amount of people, the unpredictability of those people, and the noise." Kakei explained. "I hope her love of football will be enough to allow her to focus on the game, if she does this being around that many people ought to be bearable."

"That's what I was betting on." Hiruma admitted.

"As for the noise, some sort of ear protection should do just fine." Kakei mused. "Anything from headphones to ear plugs will do, just use whatever is most comfortable for her."

"What about the color?" Hiruma knew Emiko could be over-stimulated by color.

"Usually football fans dress to match their teams so I don't think it'd be too much of an issue." Kakei remarked. "Don't be surprised if she gets distracted by the score board."

Hiruma chuckled. That thought had already crossed his mind.

"Is she going to be with someone?" Kakei asked curiously.

"Mm, yeah, Mamori," Hiruma answered.

"You would be the best person," Kakei explained, "but I know you can't play and be in the stands at the same time. Anezaki-san makes an excellent second choice."

Hiruma nodded.

"My old man is coming too- Emiko won't have to sit next to a stranger." Hiruma added.

"I was going to suggest something along those lines, but you beat me to it." Kakei laughed. "I'm going to say your family is all set to attend the Rice Bowl."

For once, Hiruma was easy to read. He was relieved and it showed.

"And do kick those Saikyodai's asses for me would you?" Kakei requested. "I'm not impressed with their behavior this season and I think they need to be put in place."

"I can do that." Hiruma half-cackled, half-chuckled.

"You have no love of your alma matter." Kakei observed.

"I would be doing those brats no favors if I didn't murder them at full strength." Hiruma smirked. "Is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think of." Kakei admitted.

Sadly Kakei did overlook something. He completely overlooked half-time along with entering and exiting the stadium. Those same things were also overlooked by Hiruma and Anezaki, while Yuuya assumed the other two had thought of everything.

**Rice Bowl, four hours before**

The only people in the stadium four hours before the Rice Bowl were typically the teams playing, the stadium staff, and the officials. Occasionally you had a few people up in the VIP rooms or die-hard fans with pre-ordered tickets milling about. In an hour and a half they would open seating for the game and sell last minute tickets. This year they were expecting a full stadium mostly due to the fact that the infamous Hiruma Youichi _might_ be playing. Hiruma had an amazing following as a player and was a crowd pleaser whose fans easily rivaled those of NFL players. Everything from playing style to personal appearance, Hiruma Youichi was a man all to himself. His tactics often continually baffled expert football strategists. No one was able to pull off replicating Hiruma's way of controlling the game, no one except Clifford D. Lewis of the New England Patriots.

Though, Lewis did not copy Hiruma's way of playing and everyone knew this. Lewis had a similar playing style, but it was distinctly different than Hiruma's. Both players were compared as being the same kind of quarterback, but with two different interpretations, which is why they can easily mimic the other's playing style but they chose not to.

Normally Lewis was not brought up as a subject in the Japanese football scene, beyond the occasional comparison to Hiruma or beyond the occasional mention as the man that recruited Kobayakawa Sena into the NFL. But today was special, very special.

Clifford D. Lewis was attending the Rice Bowl as an English speaking announcer with no disclosed reason for doing so. The Patriots had just finished the season and were going in for the playoffs; it was not a time for a professional player like him to be abroad. Yet he was. So far he hadn't arrived in the stadium yet, but Hiruma assured anyone there that Lewis would be showing his ugly mug any minute now.

Anezaki and Emiko were there, they came in with Hiruma. Yuuya had not arrived yet, much to Emiko's confusion. Hiruma explained his papa was picking someone special up, and that's why he was running late.

"Hey, Hiruma!" Takekura greeted his old friend. "Why don't you take Emiko out to see the field before we mess it up?"

"The field?" Emiko's face lit up.

Hiruma nodded. "Tell Clifford where I am if he asks." And with that he led Emiko out onto the spacious green field. Once out into the open, Emiko bolted ahead of Hiruma to go stand in the center of the field and look around at the empty stands around her, awed.

Papa was going to play here! The field was _big!_ Really big! Emiko hadn't ever seen something so big! It was awesome!

She then decided to run around the sidelines. Hiruma didn't move from where he was standing, he just silently watched over Emiko as she ran about, her eyes wide open in wonder. It kind of reminded Hiruma with his first experience with football, the field was so big it had intimidated him. Emiko wasn't intimidated, but she was amazed by the size.

Without much warning, Emiko's attention snapped onto something and she went running for the benches. Hiruma frowned and realized she was looking at something, no wait, waving at someone. He turned his gaze to follow Emiko's path to see Lewis standing on the edge of the grandstands, Yuuya beside him.

Like usual, Lewis was wearing one of his feathery purple jackets that looked overly lush and very expensive. His cold blue eyes showed remarkable amusement and his fair blond hair was shorter than Hiruma recalled it being, but it still had that dramatic bang that covered most of his face. Hiruma could make out some sort of manly pink and white combination under the ensemble, to show which team he was supporting. Oh, well how about that? Lewis was actually waving back to Emiko.

Lewis was used to having young children come running at him and waving. A side effect of being a famous player meant having lots of young, starry-eyed fans. The best thing to do with children was to smile and wave back. Of course right now he didn't have the choice; he was standing next to the girl's grandfather after all. It only took three minutes in the car with Yuuya to see how much his son resembled him.

"Papa look!" Emiko cried. "It's Clifford! And Grandpapa!"

"So it is." Hiruma sounded amused and was faking some surprise. He wasn't surprised; he had arranged this meeting after all. Kobayakawa had wanted to attend this Rice Bowl and see Hiruma play again, but his son had fallen sick and he hadn't been able to come. Lewis had volunteered to come in Kobayakawa's stead and wouldn't let Raimon do it.

_"I want to watch my one rival get reborn, so sue me."_ Lewis had remarked on the matter. Raimon understood this and backed down, begrudgingly, but he did it all the same.

"So how did you manage to sire such a cute kid?" Lewis called from the edge of the stands in prefect Japanese. He was smiling honestly, sincerely happy to be talking with Hiruma for the first time in eight years. The two were rivals despite playing in different countries; they had grown to have a mutual respect and a strange sort of friendship that amazed many.

"It was her mother's fault." Hiruma called back. That was always his comeback to that statement. Emiko only snorted, she did not agree.

Smoothly, Lewis swung himself over the rail and fell to the grassy ground bellow. Landing in a crouch, Lewis stood up, clearly uninjured and with a great deal of dramatics.

"Show off." Hiruma retorted in English while Emiko squealed in delight. Her hands began flapping quickly, but Clifford didn't seem to notice or at least be openly bothered by it if he had.

"An audience of one is still an audience." Lewis pointed out with sly smile in English. He then returned to Japanese. "Ah, so you are Hiruma Emiko-chan?"

Emiko nodded and bowed, only to right herself again immediately. She was practically bouncing in place.

"Oye," Yuuya called, "I'm going to go use the stairs, like a normal person."

"Have fun!" Emiko wished Grandpapa sincerely.

Yuuya broke out a smile and retreated. Hiruma looked pleased with it.

"You are your dad's son." Lewis commented in bemused Japanese.

"I suppose I am." Hiruma admitted with a frown while continuing the conversation in Japanese. It wasn't something he chose to be proud of.

"The field is big!" Emiko exclaimed.

Lewis took a moment to look around at the stadium around him. It was about medium sized for him, but that did not surprise him. Football wasn't Japan's number one sport after all. He looked out at the grassy field. When was the last time he played on grass?

"Ah, yeah, it is big, isn't it?" Lewis commented thoughtfully. Three yards was longer than a man was tall, and trying to get the ball that distance to score a touchdown could be just about impossible at the best of times. The field was big, very big.

And Lewis had forgotten that.

Children did have the power to remind adults of the most important, basic facts in life. Lewis did often forget the small things; he knew this better than anyone. Being a celebrity took most of the fun out of finding pure, childish joy in the things in life. Still Lewis continued to pursue that joy and he only really found it when children were about to show it to him. This wasn't something he was proud of, but he considered himself better off than most celebrities because he did still manage to find that joy in life.

"Mm. Yeah, it's plenty big." Hiruma smiled. "Plenty of room to get around the defense." The last statement issued an understanding chuckle from Lewis.

Emiko seemed to like that thought, if the increased bouncing and flapping was anything to go by.

"You're wearing pink." Hiruma teased. "How feminine of you."

"Your mascot's the Babies," Lewis pointed out, "I don't mean to offend your CEO, but seriously, that's the most ridiculous mascot ever."

"Ridiculous?" Emiko didn't know that word.

"It means really silly." Hiruma clarified.

"The Babies aren't silly, they're good." Emiko frowned.

"He's being a jerk, you can ignore him." Hiruma assured Emiko, who just nodded.

Lewis only rolled his eyes.

"Hiruma," Lewis began, more seriously this time, "I'm going to leave to go talk to the staff here in a moment."

Hiruma turned and met Lewis's serious gaze.

"I've got one bit of advice for you," Lewis went on, "win."

It wasn't the advice Hiruma was expecting, but it was the right advice. He nodded, taking in what was not said. Lewis didn't bother to suggest plays or strategy, he had confidence Hiruma could make those calls himself. Lewis also believed the Babies had a shot at winning this thing.

Though Hiruma didn't care about what the fans thought, it was comforting to have a foreign quarterback come all this way to say, with his professional opinion, that he believed Hiruma still had what it takes to be a good quarterback.

Perhaps that was the real reason Lewis showed up.

Because both Hiruma and Lewis knew that if the situation was reversed, Hiruma would have done the same thing.

"I plan to." Hiruma told Lewis. The other man looked him over carefully with those cold blue eyes, as if he was weighing the truth of that statement. Knowing Lewis, he probably was. He was taking into account every probability, examining every subtle unconscious signal Hiruma was admitting and comparing it to the chances. Hiruma was masking his emotions, the fear and nervousness, the doubt in his heart. Every player had those on some level, especially when they were about to face a strong opponent. But Hiruma also held determination, love, and excitement inside. He was ready to face whatever this game would become. Hiruma knew those blue eyes could see all of this, no mask he could make would be a match for Lewis' gaze.

Lewis nodded.

"I'll be on my way then, I'll see you after the game." Lewis told Hiruma.

"Bye." Emiko waved as Lewis began to leave. He turned to wave back before he disappeared inside the stadium proper.

Without any prompting Emiko went straight back to the field to run around on it. Hiruma watched her for a bit more smiling.

"Ten yards!" Emiko yelled and proceeded to run ten yards. It was then Hiruma recalled he had a stop watch in his pocket. Taking it out, Hiruma turned to his daughter with a bright smile of his own.

"Oi! Emiko!" Hiruma waved the watch in the air. "Do you want to clock your 40-yard dash time?"

It was 4.80 seconds.

Hiruma was damn proud.

**Rice Bowl, one hour before, the American Announcer Booth**

"Hello sports fans! This is Bob Hendrickson here live from the Tokyo Dome! It's a nice day for football folks the sun's shining and its 20 degrees cee- wait what does that mean?" Bob Hendrickson was a middle age man with a handsome face and a fashionable, but professional hair cut. He was pretty nondescript for a sports announcer, physically anyways, Lewis knew otherwise. The man could read and follow a game just as well as he could. His announcing, for the football related parts, was very detailed and succinct. But everything else, well….

There was a reason he wasn't a quarterback after all.

"That's 68 degrees Fahrenheit." Lewis prompted. "A bit chilly for the day to day, but just about right if you're running around in a uniform."

"Ah, thanks." Hendrickson smiled. "Ah, now here with me today is Clifford D. Lewis of the New England Patriots, here for 'undisclosed reasons'. Say Clifford, would you mind disclosing a few of those reasons?"

"Well Bob," Lewis began, looking a little thoughtful, "I can disclose one."

Hendrickson sat up and leaned forward, suddenly very attentive.

"I came here to see Youichi Hiruma's revival." Lewis admitted. He knew that the press had been all over his relationship with Hiruma. It had offended several people that Lewis' only acknowledged rival was some 'hick out in Japan'. Their words, not his. Lewis never did explain his reasons for having Hiruma be his only rival publically, but privately everyone knew the answer. Hiruma was the only quarterback in the world to ever over take Lewis' lead in a game and bring it into overtime. If Lewis was leading going into the fourth quarter, he always won the game and never had overtime. Hiruma is the only one to have challenged him to that point.

Needless to say after that game between Team USA and Team Japan, Lewis learned that he wasn't the best at playing quarterback in the world. Hiruma had the right to that title. He took an inferior team, bound it together and forced a tie with the strongest team in the world with some serious setbacks.

"You're sure he's going to play?" Hendrickson asked. "I mean, there's been the whole debate about whether or not he'll make an appearance. Or if he's even back from his disappearance."

Indeed it had been a rather amazing debate. Hiruma was on the official team roster, but out on 'personal reasons' of some sort. It had been left vague. There had been images of him at practice that the paparazzi had revealed, so everyone assumed there'd been a horrible family loss keeping him at home on the weekends instead of at games. Certainly the distracted looks at practice had been enough to help with that. But the leave he had been recently specified as 'medical' which confused many. Would he really be returning? Was his name and presence there to be a scare tactic? No one knew.

"He's back." Lewis said solemnly.

"Well even if Hiruma is back he hasn't been seen on the bench at any of the prior matches-" Hendrickson went on with his anti-Hiruma's return argument. They decided Hendrickson would support the Saikyodai Wizards while Lewis would support the Takekura Babies.

"I checked the X-league rules, a player is allowed to be exempt from sitting on the game and still be eligible to play in further games under certain medical condition clauses." Lewis showed the particular 'sheet' to Hendrickson. They'd discussed this part of the discussion of the live broadcast in advance, so the prop was prepared.

"Oh, I see, if the guy's sick he's allowed to play in future games and ordered off the bench." Hendrickson nodded.

"I would presume Youichi's case is something of that sort." Lewis remarked.

"Then there's also been that talk about his mysterious 'personal reasons' that prevent him from playing." Hendrickson pointed out. "The rumor is someone in his family's got terminal cancer."

"Knowing Youichi, that's probably one of seven reasons." Lewis then proceeded to be slightly offended by the dubious look Hendrickson was giving him. "Youichi sincerely loves playing football and he's a man that's not easily bested by things. If he's got 'personal reasons' keeping him from the field there'd have to be a lot of major things going on in his life for it to make enough of a difference."

"…So you think he's back." Hendrickson observed.

"Not think, _know."_ Lewis clarified. "He was in the locker room earlier."

"Ah, so he really is here?" Hendrickson waited for the nod. "Well now we go back to the debate about him playing. Even though there is a clause in the rules that allows him to play, there's still the official ruling to contend with and the fact he hasn't played all season. The Babies' roster has changed a great deal from when he was last on the field, I'm not sure the coach would let him.

"Not to mention that Saikyodai has been officially dubbed the roughest team in Japanese football. These kids are strong, tough, and they play _hard._ There's a great deal of concern that the Babies will suffer some serious injuries during this game play. And of course, even if they do manage to withstand the physical on sought, they have to contend with Takeru Yamoto's expert strategy and one hundred percent prediction. Even if the Babies have Youichi on board, will it be enough?" Hendrickson asked Lewis.

"It'll have to be if the Babies want the championship." Lewis answered. Hendrickson gave him a baffled look.

"By this point in the game all the hands are dealt, it's just a matter of playing them to the best of your ability." Lewis explained. "Besides, the Babies have Youichi and no one can beat him at football strategy."

"That's assuming Youichi actually plays…." Hendrickson pointed out. Lewis gave him a look that clearly said he was tired of disagreeing with that statement.

"You know, Clifford, you're the Invincible Gambler, what's the chances Youichi's gonna play?" Hendrickson asked. This was the point in which the rehearsal stopped and the improve began.

"The chance is one hundred percent." Clifford announced with absolute confidence.

"What do you mean, one hundred percent-!" Hendrickson protested.

_"-She's_ in the stands today. The chance is one hundred percent, the safest bet." Lewis told Hendrickson firmly.

"Who is this 'she'?" Hendrickson asked only to get small, smug smirk in response.

"Youichi's daughter."

**Rice Bowl, three minutes before player introductions**

Emiko was not happy.

She was wearing some headphones, which made things better, but she still didn't like it (they pinched her ears). Her patience and endurance for all these people and waiting was wearing thin awfully quickly. Papa and Mom didn't say there was going to be a lot of waiting, Emiko didn't like waiting. She rocked in her seat uncomfortably, trying to calm herself and be good.

If she was bad, Papa might get in trouble and then he couldn't play anymore and that would be bad and sad and nasty and Papa might not forgive Emiko and that would be even worse!

So Emiko was going to be good, even if it was going to be really, really hard to be good.

**"Now presenting the Takekura Babies!"** The infamous Japanese announcer, Machinegun Sanada, announced. Football games just weren't football games without him.

Emiko fell silent and her gaze turned excitedly towards the entry way.

**"From the depths of Hell this man has risen up to once again to haunt the fields of football, give it up for the devilish commander from Hell, Quarterback Hiruma Youichi!"** Sanada wound up the crowd just right to make it explode. Emiko couldn't help it, she was sucked up in the emotion and screaming along with everyone else.

Out of the dry ice ran Hiruma, helmet under arm and gun over his shoulder. The crowd was wild and pleased to see him back. His perpetual smirk dawned his face as he ran further onto the field to await the next introduction. Subtly though, Hiruma's eyes scanned the crowd briefly, trying to find Emiko in the mass. He'd almost forgotten where Takekura had told him her seat was at. Ah there they were, her brown eyes and that smile….

Papa saw her and winked! Most awesome thing ever!

Anezaki was no fool; she saw that Hiruma found his daughter and it made her smile. The rest of the Babies came out with the same introductions they had been using all season. Most of the team seemed to be weary of Hiruma and his gun. That's right- this was their first game with him on the field. He hadn't been completely off the wall bat shit crazy at practice, Kurita and Takekura had told her this. Instead he'd been unnervingly polite and parental. They knew he was going back to his old tricks with the opponents they were facing but….

Would his new bonds with his teammates be strong enough?

**"And here are the Saikyodai Wizards!"** Sanada announced, sending the other half of the crowd into furry. Emiko let out her own excited squeal. Papa had showed her all of their games this season while he was analyzing them. She knew lots about them!

**"Ah, their coach, Yamato Takeru is the first one on the field today. He said he wanted to have a look at the enemy first so he could start using his 'one hundred percent predictions' on them right away. Looks like he's got his eyes set on the prize!"** Sanada used his words to further rally the crowd.

"Not one hundred percent." Emiko frowned at the words. "Papa and Sena broke it during the Christmas Bowl."

"Your Papa plans to break it again." Yuuya commented loud enough to be heard over the crowd and the headphones Emiko was wearing. She nodded.

Yamato was staring at the smirking Hiruma. A light nervous sweat broke out across his entire form. Those green eyes were seeing right through him, like they always had. The expression on Hiruma's face told Yamato that he was more than ready to kick his ass and knock his team down a few pegs today and that he'd also seen through Yamato's tactics.

"Still unnerving, huh?" Yamato smiled brightly. This was going to be a challenge and there was nothing better than a blood-stirring challenge.

"Coach," Ishimaru Shinichi, the quarterback, began, "what's with Jersey One?" Frankly the man looked like he was trying to imitate a punk and was being remarkably successful for an older person. Something about that gun and confident smirk was unnerving.

"Hiruma Youichi, age 36, offensive captain and starting quarterback for the Babies' line up." Yamato answered. "More commonly known as the 'Commander from Hell', because he makes hell for anyone whom he fights and often his teammates in the process. He's a master of trick plays and comeback victories."

"I know that, but what's with the gun and the hair?" Ishimaru pressed.

"Part of the 'from Hell' part. He's trying to mess with our heads by coming off as demonic." Yamato explained.

"He doesn't look like much." Ishimaru remarked, flipping open a clipboard full of data. "I mean his dash time and bench press, its weak."

"Physically he's not much of a threat," Yamato admitted, "but tactically he's arguably the best in the world."

"The best football tactician in the world is Clifford D. Lewis, seconded by yourself." Ishimaru spoke as if this was fact.

"Shinichi," Yamato looked his trainee in the eye, "Hiruma is the only person Clifford ever acknowledged as his rival for a reason."

Ishimaru's eyes went wide.

"He-he's _that_ Hiruma Youichi?" Ishimaru had been forced to watch footage from all of Hiruma's previous games along with footage from Lewis' games to get a feel for trickster quarterbacks. Yamato hadn't been sure that Hiruma was going to play, but he decided to not take the foolish risk of assuming he wasn't. He did have anti-Hiruma tactics prepared, hopefully it would be enough.

"Yes, he is _that_ Hiruma Youichi. He will be the most impressive quarterback you will ever see up close. Shinichi," Yamato paused for dramatic effect, "win or lose today, watch him closely. You'll learn a great deal."

"The pointy eared guy is coming this way!" Nakashima Kureno, kicker, exclaimed as Hiruma started walking over. Introductions had finished and for some reason that no one understood yet, Hiruma was crossing the field. A few referees appeared at Hiruma's sides. Technically Hiruma hadn't done anything wrong but they wanted to make sure he didn't.

Crunching the white grass beneath his feet, Hiruma stopped on the sideline just before the bench. Now that he was close, Ishimaru could see the little crow's feet and forehead wrinkles on Hiruma's face. He was not a boy, he was a man, a veteran of this game.

Everyone amongst the Wizards felt intimidated by this amazing presence before them.

"Two things." Hiruma announced, holding up two long fingers to prove his point. "First thing, I don't give a shit about fucking alma matters. Just because you also went to Saikyodai doesn't mean I'm going to be fucking sympatric to your plight."

"You went to Saikyodai?" Ishimaru muttered, then he recalled the Saikyodai games Yamato had wanted him to watch and he hadn't, dismissing them as going over his team's mistakes as opposed to Hiruma's games.

"Fuck yeah." Hiruma gave the young quarterback a bemused look. Then he turned to Yamato. "Didn't know you got so forgetful, fucking shiny."

Then Hiruma's expression turned thoughtful for a moment.

"Or are you trying to set them up for the biggest fucking defeat they will experience in their college careers?" Hiruma mused.

"Hey old man! We're better than you!" One of the linemen roared, clearly having lost his temper.

"Oh?" Hiruma raised an eyebrow, looking at the kid, still bemused. He then shut his eyes.

"Kojima Taiki, number 73, linemen. Started playing his senior year of high school after being kicked off the sumo team for fighting with his teammates. Went from center to defensive tackle because of his lack of respect for a quarterback's orders. Average sacks per game, 4.03. Has a nasty habit of breaking the bones in opposing teams' quarterbacks when sacking." Hiruma listed the statics in a soft voice. The sort of soft voice he used to calm a confused and upset Emiko.

"Taiki-chan," Hiruma opened his eyes, "I'll be fucking frank, you're not nearly as nasty as Gaou Rikiya."

"His sacking average is less than mine." Kojima pointed out. "Why should I be afraid?"

"Gaou's sacking average is less than yours because it takes him less time to fuck up the quarterback, kid." Hiruma pointed out dryly.

The rest of the team could only stare, pale.

"But remarking about how fucking inferior you are to Gaou isn't one of the reasons why I'm here." Hiruma went on, only serving to provoke Kojima further. Almost all of the linemen were holding him back.

"Then why did you come?" Yamato demanded. His team had been somewhat demoralized by Hiruma's psychological attack, this was not a good start. But it was promising, Hiruma was taking this seriously and he was using every trick he had. Perhaps he felt intimidated by Yamato's line up after all.

"To remind you that your fucking wife wants to eat dinner with you sometime this week." Hiruma told Yamato with a pleasant, sweet smile. "I do hope you take her somewhere nice, she's been putting up with a remarkable amount of your shit recently and all."

Yamato could only stare. How did Hiruma know about that-! Wait this was Hiruma, Hiruma knew shit about people.

Hiruma just turned around with a 'see ya' kind of wave, his smirk even wider. He did just demoralize the opposing team and freak out Yamato. Those kids hadn't had any real challenges this season and Hiruma was going to present them with the biggest challenge they ever had.

"I'm going to kill that bastard!" Kojima announced with a growl.

"Taiki-kun!" Yamato snapped, angry for once.

The Wizards were quiet as they looked from the player to coach. They'd never seen Yamato this mad before.

"Taiki-kun you have fallen into Hiruma-shi's trap." Yamato told the boy with a menacing look. "By getting mad you've allowed yourself to be controlled by him."

Taiki went still and silent, his eyes wide. Yamato was right and he knew it.

"Hiruma-shi came here to intimidate us, to rile us," Yamato began, "and in fact he did just that but- it has made me realize something."

The team learned forward, hanging on their coaches every word.

"He's afraid of us." Yamato announced. "He's afraid of losing so he's seeking to use more covert means for victory. I want you to show him, make him feel, just how afraid he should be."

The Wizards let out an enthusiastic roar and Yamato hid a smirk. Oh yes, this was going to work out very nicely.

Across the field Hiruma had read the man's lips and could only chuckle.

"Something funny?" Takekura asked his old friend.

"Fucking shiny thinks I'm scared of his team." Hiruma answered.

"I don't think they are scary." Kurita remarked thoughtfully.

"They aren't fucking scary. They're a bunch of overly strong idiots with no respect for the fucking rules or technique." Hiruma elaborated. "Their fucking quarterback isn't half bad, but he has no control over his fucking teammates."

"I suppose we'll just have to cut them down a few notches." Juumonji remarked, looking slightly bored with this.

"And crush their spirits." Kuroki added.

"And give them a dose of realism with defeat." Toganou added.

"This will make for an interesting Rice Bowl." Gaou remarked from behind the three friends with a grin.

**American Announcer Booth**

"-make for an interesting Rice Bowl." Hendrickson finished. They had just been discussing what Hiruma was doing talking to the opposing team. Lewis' main idea had been to sow some seeds of intimidation and fear. He'd also commented that those college boys hadn't had a real challenge yet this season so they had gotten cocky. Lewis thought that perhaps Hiruma wanted to put a little reality into them before they faced off.

"All the more reason to have come to see it in person." Lewis added with a smug smile.

"Ah- it looks like they are going over for the coin toss now." Hendrickson announced. "The Babies are being led by Youichi Hiruma, while Takeru Yamato is leading his quarterback, Shinichi Ishimaru. Clifford is it just me, or does that boy look defeated to you?"

"I don't think 'defeated' is the right word," Lewis explained, "he definitely looks like he's encountered something much bigger and fearsome than he imagined. Youichi definitely stuck some harsh reality on this kid."

"Why would Youichi do such a thing? Do you think he's afraid of the other team?" Hendrickson asked.

"No, he's not afraid of them. He's actually being respectful." Lewis explained, got a blank look, and found himself having to elaborate again. "He's fighting his opponent at top strength. This isn't to secure a victory as much as it is to make the game more satisfying for those playing it. No one likes a hollow victory."

"Well, you would know best Clifford." Hendrickson was clearly taking the other man's word for it.

"Of course I would, I'm a player." Lewis smiled. "Youichi is going to pull out everything he's got and spare his opponent nothing. That'll be entertaining at the very least."

"Ah, here they are." Hendrickson nodded in approval when he was handed a piece of paper from off screen. Lewis only gave the man a curious look. "The casino bet statistics."

"Oh?" Lewis raised an eyebrow and waited for Hendrickson to elaborate.

"1 to 333, in favor of Saikyodai." Hendrickson announced. He jumped in his chair when Lewis let out a barking belly laugh.

"Looks like the Babies' victory has been sealed." Lewis smirked almost predatorily. "After all, Youichi plays best when the odds are stacked against him."

**The Field**

Flying up, every eye in the stadium watched withheld breaths as a single golden coin spun in the air. Would it favor the Babies? Would it favor the Wizards?

The referee caught the coin deftly and looked Hiruma in the eye, waiting for Hiruma's choice.

Yamato and Ishimaru mentally sighed, knowing they just lost their first offense and potentially their one chance at winning.

"Will you take the field, Hiruma-shi?" The referee asked, finding Hiruma's silence and blank expression unnerving.

"No, we'll kick." Hiruma corrected the man.

"W-what!" Yamato and Ishimaru gasped. There was no way in hell Hiruma would have done that!

Yamato went cold at that realization. The moment you think 'there's no way in hell he'd do that' it would be exactly what Hiruma would do. Right off from the start of the game Hiruma was controlling everyone with his unpredictable, unexpected behavior. Yamato knew from all of his years of experience that there was one thing, only one thing he could predict reliably today.

His team's chances of winning were not as large as everyone thought they were. In fact they were getting smaller by the moment.

The team leaders broke off and Hiruma called a huddle for the Babies.

"Fucking old man," Hiruma pointed a sharp finger as Takekura's chest, "kick the ball to number 24."

Takekura only nodded solemnly while the rest of the team bit back protests. They all knew that number 24, Yumi Shigehito, was their ace runningback. Surely there was a reason for doing this, a plan behind Hiruma's madness.

"Fucking freckles," Hiruma addressed one of his own teammates, "your job will be forcing that fucking ace of theirs to fumble."

"W-what?" Nakamura Tadayoshi, the only man on the team with freckles, gasped. He was a fast linebacker but he had low self-esteem and often made things worse when he was on the field because of this.

"You're the only one who can compete with that fucking ace in speed." Hiruma reminded the linebacker bluntly. "All you need to do is knock the ball out of that so-called ace's hands. Should be damn easy, the brat's got a loose one arm grip."

Everyone stared at Hiruma as he said this. It was news to them.

"Even a pathetic idiot like you could pull it off," Hiruma went on, "just make their fucking ace fumble."

"What about the fumble?" Kuroda Shinji, number 82, wide receiver, asked.

"You, fucking doughnuts," Hiruma pointed his vicious finger at the wide receiver that was fond of eating doughnuts, "will catch that fumble if fucking freckles here can't."

The team was silent.

"Why are we doing something so risky?" Kuroda asked softly.

"Because they aren't fucking ready for it," Hiruma answered confidently, "they're preparing for a fucking squib kick-"

Which was completely true, the Wizards were convinced Hiruma Youichi was intending to mock them by using a squib kick.

"-and that means their defense will be shattered when faced with such an extreme change of plan." The Babies nodded, understanding the logic even if it bothered them.

"It will also scare those brats shitless." Hiruma added smugly.

"Is scaring a bunch of over-confident kids necessary?" Nakamura asked. He just knew he would find a way to fuck up this job.

"Whoever scares the opponent first wins." Takekura told Nakamura calmly. "That's a simple football rule, isn't it Hiruma?"

"Fuck yes." Hiruma agreed with a happy, devilish, smile. "Now kiddies, time for your next lesson."

Gulp.

"We didn't come here to defeat our enemy," Hiruma began using his fatherly correction voice, "we came here to slaughter them."

"Now that's something I haven't heard in a while," Juumonji began,

"It just wasn't the same when you were gone," Kuroki went on,

"But I think we all agree we're damn glad its back." Toganou finished.

"Oh you taught these kiddies?" Hiruma grinned happily at the thought.

"'Course we did." The three 'brothers' grinned back.

"We'll fucking kill them. **Ya-ha!"**

**American Announcer Booth**

"D-did we get a censor on that?" Hendrickson asked, a bit startled by the English huddle shot.

"No." Lewis answered, he didn't appear to care. "There's no point in censoring it."

"What do you mean?" Hendrickson asked, still a bit uncomposed.

"That's Youichi's huddle shout," Lewis explained, "He's been using it since middle school."

"Just because the behavior is common doesn't make it appropriate." Hendrickson pointed out.

"Maybe not, but this isn't a football game with Youichi Hiruma on the field unless he's out there swearing." Lewis countered. "Besides, Sena leads all sorts of horribly inappropriate huddle shouts in Japanese all the time. If it's acceptable in the NFL, it can certainly be acceptable here."

"He does?" Hendrickson blinked.

"His current favorite translates something on the lines of 'unpleasant destruction of a man's gentiles.'" Lewis put some fingered quotes on the words to make his point clear. Hendrickson paled. "But much cruder of course."

"O-of course." Hendrickson muttered.

"Don't worry too much Bob," Lewis assured his co-announcer, "Youichi's going to be the only one taking heat for his swearing."

**The Field**

"He's planning something." Yamato muttered to himself. He knew Hiruma was going to do something and for once he was at a loss as to how that was. It was a small comfort that Hiruma would not actually be standing on the field with the kicking team, but that was the only comfort. He was hoping that Hiruma had ordered a squib kick, but because he suspected that play it probably wasn't going to happen. He warned his team, of course, but he didn't think they took his warning seriously enough. Yamato's only hope was that his team would figure out that Hiruma Youichi was very much a threat and that Yamato wasn't shitting them about the added caution.

"When is he not?" Banba Manoru, the giant tanned ex-linemen and Yamato's assistant coach, asked humorlessly from behind Yamato. He'd been busy making sure the line had proper taping and warm-ups before the match to have talked to Yamato about Hiruma. Only now that the match was moments away from starting could he find the time to talk about how many issues they were going to be having.

"These boys have no idea how much trouble they are about to be in…." Yamato muttered sadly.

"Then let them learn by doing." Banba highly believed in learning by doing. He also knew instead of raising a proper team this year, they'd guided a group of ruffians that had just been meaner than anyone else. A smack around from Hiruma might accomplish something in an hour that Banba had been attempting all season.

"Don't you want victory?" Yamato asked with a frown.

"Of course I do and I'm confident they'll flatten their opponent if they get serious about it." Banba explained. "Hiruma will take the lead and knock them around in the first quarter then they will man up and have a lead by the beginning of the second half."

"Banba-sama, I didn't know you made predictions." One of the benched linemen almost sneered. The boy was a known trouble child so Banba benched him.

"I only state facts." Banba explained to the kid tonelessly. "Just sit and watch this play, we're going to lose possession of the ball."

Takekura stretched his leg out. Ten men beside him, 11 men, well boys really, before him. 11 against 11, comrades beside you, stadium a mass of cheers around you, and Hiruma's small smirk on the sideline.

How long had it been since he'd played football like this? Too long really, part of him had felt that time had stopped for him and Kurita when Hiruma ran out of practice that one day over six years ago. His legs felt light and strong, youthful really. He'd done fine as a professional kicker, but he'd never done anything spectacular without Hiruma there.

Maybe it was time to show them what happens when Takekura returns to his old self.

After nodding briefly to his teammates, Takekura stood in position and waited for the referee to blow the whistle and start the game. The roar of the crowd became deafening after the whistle blew, everyone was hanging on this moment. Step, step, step, pulling back his leg, restraining all of its power until the last moment. His cleat made a clean contact and the cannon went off, sending the ball soaring farther than the eye could see into the chilly sky.

The crowd was awestruck, the announcers were babbling senselessly about the beautiful kick off. Without any hesitation, Nakamura and Kuroda went bolting forward at the sound of the ball being blasted into the sky. Both had their eyes set on Yumi, everyone else was ignored as they blasted past the stunned team.

To say the Wizards were caught off guard was an understatement. Every single one of them was staring at the sky for three seconds, trying to find the ball. This hesitation was fatal, the Babies were on them and in their faces. Most of the Wizards didn't have time to get into proper blocking form (not that they used it anyway) when they encountered their opponent. The Babies didn't show any hesitation and proceeded to blue sky anyone in their path, roughly pushing the young boys to the ground.

**"The Wizards are falling like flies!"** Sanada exclaimed. **"They have completely, helplessly fallen into Hiruma-shi's trap! What an amazing kick off!"**

Yumi found himself running backwards a bit to catch the ball. Takekura hadn't kicked it terribly far, just extremely high. He could catch this-! What the hell!

The ball was completely unstable and tumbling in the air. Takekura had managed to kick it out of sight with it tumbling like _that!_ Yumi spared a glance at the kicker only to watch him flatten their ace linemen without batting an eye. Suddenly Yumi became acutely aware the **entire Babies team** was running towards him, destroying any obstacles in their path. They knew, all of these men in pink _knew_ the ball had been kicked to him. They knew it been a hard-to-catch kick and they knew that the Wizards hadn't been expecting it.

"Like hell!" Yumi swore. He wasn't going to let these guys win. He was going to catch that ball and run it past all of them for a kick-off return touchdown. Pulling his gaze upwards, Yumi readied himself for the ball. Damn that thing was falling fast!

Bong!

Yumi managed to catch it but he held it awkwardly in his arms, defenders were closing in. The nearest was only two yards away. To Yumi, two yards was plenty. Without any hesitation, Yumi started to run, aiming for the gaps in the tight defense.

"…Bad plan." Emiko muttered with a frown. It went unheard in the noise around her.

Nakamura came closing in on Yumi, his hand out stretched to snap the ball out of that kid's arm. It was going to be impossible, Nakamura realized quickly, the kid had locked the ball (rather poorly, but it was hard to tell) in both arms and was charging at full speed just off an intersection course. Nakamura was wishing he'd been able to convince Hiruma this was a bad idea, because right now he was about to cost their team its first points.

Yumi managed to escape Nakamura, whom he sneered at as he ran by. He spun past two more Babies only to slam right into Juumonji's chest.

"Hey kid." The scary bescared man remarked with a menacing smile. "Let's have a good game."

"Wha-?" Yumi muttered only to find out he'd just impaled himself on the linemen's unforgiving hand. Falling backwards, Yumi found the air gone from his lungs before he hit the ground. With a loud crash, Yumi hit the unforgiving field, back first, right on the twenty yard line.

Hiruma only went 'tch'. The plan hadn't come off perfectly, as he suspected it might. He could use that though. The kids were going to definitely expect some kind of trick play, probably poorly executed, from now on. This meant he could use fundamentals to crush them; which was much more fitting.

"Saikyodai ball!" The referee called. He was looking pale. Never before had he seen a kick off like that, it sent shivers down his spine.

"Looks like you were wrong, _coach._" This was the general consensus from the Wizards' bench. Banba looked unsettled.

"…They could have had it." Yamato muttered. "We got lucky."

"No, number 40 is a coward, no confidence. He didn't have enough spirit to complete the play." Banba corrected. "Hiruma looks annoyed."

"Ah he just revealed a weakness." Yamato frowned. "But was it on purpose?"

"It's going to be now." Banba muttered. "We _should_ have lost possession."

Nakamura walked back to the bench, looking defeated. He was probably going to be benched for that fuck up.

"What the fuck was that?" Hiruma demanded. "Tell me, Nakamura, what. The. Fuck. Was. That?" Hiruma spat his words acidly. Everyone on the bench cringed. They all knew Hiruma was one hell of a beast when angered ever since the day someone decided to mock the water bottle Emiko had given her Papa.

"I-I-!" Nakamura found himself speechless under the gaze of this green eyed devil before him.

"Why," Hiruma pointed at the man's face, "are you playing this game, you fucking coward?"

Nakamura could only stare on in horror.

"Answer my question!" Hiruma snapped.

"B-b-because I like it?" Nakamura confessed and prayed.

"..." Hiruma glared at him as he examined the truth of that statement. "Tch."

The team grew tenser.

"Same reason I play." Hiruma commented thoughtfully, surprising everyone, especially Nakamura.

"R-really?" Nakamura wasn't sure this was happening.

"You heard me; I play football because it's fun." Hiruma repeated himself, "which is why I'm baffled by your stupid-fuck fear."

Nakamura didn't follow.

"Why the fuck are you afraid of something you enjoy?" Hiruma asked Nakamura piercingly.

Nakamura didn't have an answer; frankly he'd never looked at the problem that way.

"Go back there, on that field," Hiruma pointed at the green expanse beside them, "and remember how you felt the first time you played this damn game."

"H-hiruma-" Kuroda began only to get cut off by a look.

"You do remember how you felt, don't you?" Hiruma asked Nakamura, "that simple, childish joy of having fun?"

"Yeah." Nakamura nodded.

"Then go fucking out there and have some fun~" Hiruma told Nakamura with a kind, happy smile. He went over and ushered the linebacker back onto the field in a kind of boyish way that freaked out most of the team. Nakamura blinked a few times and kind of awkwardly stumbled onto the field with the rest of the defense.

"Was there a point to that?" Takekura asked.

Hiruma popped a piece of gum in his mouth before answering.

"Just increasing his output," Hiruma explained, "and giving those defenders a nasty surprise."

"With joy, huh?" Takekura muttered, bemused.

"Love's as strong a weapon as fear." Hiruma remarked cryptically. Well not that cryptically, everyone knew that Emiko had taught Hiruma that lesson.

Banba was pissed. These boys weren't listening again.

"I told you that you shouldn't just aim for exploiting number 40!" Banba snapped again. "Hiruma just did something to the guy, didn't you just watch it!"

The Wizards only turned their noses and walked out onto the field. Ishimaru looked better, after Hiruma's failed play. He'd been watching Hiruma intently during that chaos. That man had failed that play and was mad. He also watched his bizarre behavior on the bench just now.

"Oye fucking team!" Hiruma yelled from the bench. "Ishimaru's wearing pink underwear!"

What the hell?

**"It appears as though Hiruma Youichi has just made a statement about the color of Ishimaru Shinichi's underwear."** Sanada remarked. **"I wonder how true that is."**

How did he know! Ishimaru stared in both fear and awe. The pink hadn't been intentional, his mom had washed a red sock with his whites and it was clean but-! Still that was just freaky!

"Is he really wearing pink underwear?" Kurita asked.

"Look at his fucking face." Hiruma pointed, amused. "That bluff would have either freaked him out beyond belief or it would have pissed him off."

"Wow, he really _is_ wearing pink underwear." Toganou muttered.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma cackled happily. He wins!

"Okay, we're going with a long pass." Ishimaru told the team and issued routes. He hoped they would listen to him. Usually the receivers were good about the pass routes but the line had a habit of blue skying anyone, regardless of the kind of play.

Juumonji studied Ishimaru slightly and nodded to himself. The kid seemed, unsure and worried. There was some tension between him and the linemen and Juumonji was certain that was because the line usually went blue sky regardless of the kind of play. And blue skying allowed for back defenders to get through easier if you managed to tie up the opposing linemen while you fell….

"It's a long pass," Juumonji told the defense, "which is why the safeties will be playing counterbacks for this play. Nakamura, you blitz. Everyone else try to crush, or give up on the crush and tangle."

**"Ya-ha!"** The Babies broke their huddle before the Wizards were ready. They could only stare at the opposing team in awe. How did those guys work so fast? They weren't like this in the main season!

Ishimaru carefully looked over the field, a bad feeling in his stomach. The Babies were quiet and collected, all of their eyes on the opponent before them. Nakamura, the failed player from the previous play was staring him in the eye with a smile. A happy smile, it was creepy.

"Set!" Ishimaru threw aside his emotions to play, to crush. "Hut! Hut! Hut!"

Snap! The ball was in Ishimaru's hands. He assumed a passing stance immediately and watched his receivers run forth onto the battlefield. He gasped loudly when he discovered both receivers were marked by two people. His safety back was staying behind the line as added defense when the linemen flattened their opponents.

One of the Babies fell, Gaou specifically, creating a gap in the line. Ishimaru frowned as his center was currently tangled up with Gaou. That was unusual.

Then Nakamura came shooting through the newly made gap, making Ishimaru gasp. His tight end was not quick enough to react to the charging linebacker.

"Wheee!" Nakamura cried happily as he proceeded to smack the ball out of Ishimaru's hand and snatch it. He took it and ran like a bandit with it.

"T-touchdown!" The referee called, stunned.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma burst out laughing. "What fools! They can't even guard their quarterback right!"

"Dammit!" Banba swore. "He _was_ tricking us!"

"What the hell was with that guy?" One of the Wizards muttered. "He was going 'whee!' like a little brat!"

"O-ouch!" Ishimaru muttered. That linebacker had snapped the ball out of his hand very forcefully. The guy was strong, stronger than Ishimaru had thought.

"Hmm, touchdown or kick?" Hiruma pondered loudly by the confused assembly of the Wizards. "Whatever should I do?"

That only just pissed them off. They knew now, Hiruma Youichi was messing with them. It didn't help that the crowd's excitement grew when Hiruma stepped onto the field for the try for point. Kurita put on his helmet and went from being a kind, happy man, to a fierce, boiling beast that put Gaou to shame.

"…I haven't seen Kurita like that in a few years." Banba muttered.

"Hiruma brought that back." Yamato frowned.

"…I bet he's going to break through just to show them how pathetic they are." Banba muttered.

"With a fake from Musashi I think." Yamato added as Takekura stepped out onto the field.

"So what is the plan, oh commander from Hell?" Takekura asked mockingly in the huddle.

"It's a kick." Hiruma answered quickly and bluntly. "They're waiting for a trick or a trap." He pulled away from the huddle to turn around and smirk mockingly at the Wizards before returning to his own huddle. "Now we just stand around here as if I was explaining something complicated."

"Stretching out their nerves, huh?" Toganou muttered thoughtfully.

"You betcha fucking sunnies." Hiruma's smirk grew wider.

"Should we act like it's going to be a breakthrough?" Kurita asked.

"Nah, act like you're thinking hard about something." Hiruma suggested. "I want them to think we're going to be doing something complicated. If you can't act like you're thinking hard, then just be fucking blank."

"We have eight seconds left." Takekura muttered thoughtfully.

"Shall we?" Hiruma invited with a grin.

**"Ya-ha!"**

Startled by the Babies, huddle, the Wizards looked up. Ah, it was time to get in place then right? Those Babies were so totally going to fake this kick, so they should focus on the breakthrough.

"Set, hut!" Hiruma called quickly, starting the play immediately. Kurita flawlessly snapped the ball and slammed himself unforgivingly into Kojima. The kid hadn't been expecting a strong lineman like this.

Takekura came in and kicked the ball Hiruma set up, sending it swimmingly through the goal posts.

**American Announcer Booth**

"-and it's good!" Hendrickson called while Lewis let out a small 'whoop!'.

"That was an amazing start to a game. Youichi has clearly set the tone and the pace." Hendrickson summed up the first play perfectly.

"This is the power of a trickster quarterback." Lewis remarked. "Youichi only plays the hand the other team is expecting least, be it a fundamental, simple play, or something completely unorthodox."

"You'd know all about that being a trickster quarterback yourself, wouldn't you Clifford?" Hendrickson commented in good humor.

"Youichi's better at tricking than I am." Lewis remarked with a dead seriousness. "And he hasn't lost his touch in his absence."

"What a fearsome opponent." Hendrickson commented, a bit startled by Lewis' words.

"Troublesome is more like it. His one weakness in this game is the fact he's not used to playing with most of the Babies' lineup. We'll be seeing more slips like that kick-off for the rest of the game. But we'll also be seeing his deadly ability to turn a weakness into a strength as well."

"…Is there anything the Wizards can do?" Hendrickson asked.

"Cool their heads, get serious, prepare for anything," Lewis answered ominously, "if you can accomplish all three things you can keep your head around an opponent like Youichi. Unfortunately with the Wizards' style of play I don't think that task will be easy."

**The Stands**

"Papa's in trouble!" Emiko cried to Anezaki, fear all over her face. She wasn't facing Mom, she knew Mom would understand.

"Emiko?" Anezaki looked down at the girl curiously.

"Wizards will be mean now!" Emiko wailed. "Very mean! Papa will get hurt!"

Anezaki couldn't really hear Emiko that well over the crowd while the next kick off started. She turned to the field where Emiko was fixated. She gasped in confusion along with the rest of the stadium.

The Wizards weren't moving. The ball had landed in the middle and they saw no reason to move and pick it up.

"What are they doing?" Anezaki muttered.

**The Field**

Hiruma popped a bubble while he watched the play. They were being given the ball it seemed, clearly with the intention of tackling whoever went to get it. It was a trap, they intended to murder whoever got that ball.

"Ora!" Juumonji called and blotted forward into the mass of the opposing team and grabbed the ball. He then fell down on his knees instantly, giving Babies possession at that spot. But one of the Wizards didn't 'see' this and went in for the attack. He was foiled by Juumonji ducking down to make a tiny ball and letting the guy trip over him.

"Ha?" Juumonji asked the kid who just got a face full of dirt. "You do something?"

The kid only spat the dirt out of his mouth and glared at Juumonji. Clearly this wasn't over yet.

Hiruma stepped onto the field solemnly, eyeing the Wizards and their stoic looks carefully. Their expressions weren't revealing much but their intent was clear.

"They want to murder us." Hiruma announced in the huddle. "Not that surprising, it's what these brats excel at."

Everyone nodded.

"They aren't going to go after the ball, they're going to go after me, after you." Hiruma explained. "It doesn't matter if the play ends, they'll find a reason to hurt you."

"What's the plan?" Kurita asked.

"Watch your back, watch the back of the person next to you if your hands aren't full." Hiruma answered. "We're going for a short pass."

"Eh? Why not a run?" Kuroda asked, confused.

"It'll increase their chances of getting a penalty and decrease our chances for injury. If you think for one moment those fucking kids are going to mess you up, hit the deck if you've got the ball." Hiruma told Kuroda firmly. "It is too early in this damn game to be sending people out on injuries."

"But if you do get fucking injured I want to see you busting your ass like that injury is nothing." Hiruma told the team. "Make them think that we are invincible, that injuring us won't stop our offense."

"Hiruma," Toganou began, "follow your own advice."

"Of course I am." Hiruma looked slightly offended by that. No way in hell he was going to get injured in front of Emiko.

**The Stands**

"No!" Emiko muttered. Papa had to stop, they were going to do bad things. He was going to get hurt. It was going to be horrible! Something, someone, save Papa! Protect Papa!

Please…!

**American Announcer Booth**

Lewis went silent with a tight frown. He had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling. Hendrickson's voice was distant the field before him grew very narrow. Something was about to happen….

And it wasn't going to be pretty.

**The Field**

"Set, hut! Hut!" Hiruma cried to start the play. He took a step back and surveyed the field.

Shit.

The linemen let themselves fall only to copy Gaou's tangle trick. The linebackers and safeties came rushing forward, nothing between them and Hiruma. They weren't going to stop until they took him out, regardless of whether or not he had the ball. He looked out at Kuroda, who had looked back to see what the fuck the defense was doing that was so bizarre.

"Catch it and score." Hiruma mouthed then threw the ball perfectly, completely unperturbed by the fact he was about to slammed into by three large bodies. Hiruma forced himself to relax since he knew it would lessen the damage.

The last thing he remembered before the world went black was sky coming into view. It was a pretty sky, very nice day for a game. His mind went out to Emiko briefly, hoping that she wouldn't be too upset over this.

Papa would be okay in the end, he hoped she knew that.

**-break-**

Emiko was able to hold back how very upset she was until half-time. She exploded into tears and screams that startled those around here the moment they called half-time. Anezaki knew the cause: Hiruma had been taken off the field in a stretcher, much to everyone's amazement. The Babies had held on, leaving the score at 52-20. Takekura had managed to get in two kicks, but there were no touchdowns beyond the first two. On top of that there had been no news on Hiruma's condition.

"Take her into the hall." Yuuya suggested. Anezaki nodded and managed to haul Emiko out of the stands into the hall. Once there Emiko was startled by some noise and blotted into the building, screaming all the way. Unfortunately Emiko was faster than Anezaki and that made it impossible to keep up with her. Not to mention the crowd was parting for Emiko and doing nothing to help Anezaki.

Emiko didn't have a plan. She was getting away from the noise, from the bad things, and she wasn't going to stop. Her little feet carried her away from the noise, from the people and down into hallways where she didn't belong, not that she knew that.

Lewis had left the announcing booth to get some news on Hiruma directly because no one was sending it up. Hendrickson let him go and promised to handle the half time summary by himself. Needless to say Lewis was a bit surprised to find a bawling Emiko in the middle of the hallway, just outside of the announcer's booth. She was rocking back and forth and her arms were flapping.

"Autism….!" Lewis muttered in English, his eyes widening in surprise. So that's what that 'jiheishou' disability meant."[1] He sighed and took off his jacket.

"Fluffy comfort blanket." Lewis announced in clear Japanese and dropped the coat on Emiko. She let out a small surprised cry, then stopped crying. She rocked some more and seemed to calm down. One of her hands had poked out from underneath the coat and was petting the feathers. If it weren't for the fact Emiko was extremely upset, Lewis would have found the situation very adorable.

"Emiko-chan," Lewis began as he crouched down to get his head about level with hers, "would you like to see your Papa?"

**The Babies' Training Room**

Hiruma was laying on one of the beds in the room, a towel over his face. He was suffering from a concussion and probably some sort of fracture in his right hand, as it had been stepped on. Munakata Atsushi, the Babies' athletic trainer, was worried. Hiruma might be suffering from some permanent brain damage since he didn't come to right away…..

That's when there was some excitement outside the door. Munakata frowned, he had especially forbid anyone from coming in to visit Hiruma during half time.

Lewis didn't get a fuck about the Japanese people in front of him. He kicked the door open.

"Sorry, I don't know those Japanese words." Lewis told them in English and marched into the room, Emiko under his coat in his arms, and shut it behind him.

Munakata had gotten thinner and less shiny, but he was still a blocky sort of man with very chiseled features. Lewis gave him an indifferent look and set down the Emiko-bundle beside Hiruma on the bed.

"Go wake up your Papa." Lewis instructed Emiko in soft, fatherly toned Japanese, completely ignoring the particularly annoyed look Munakata was giving him.

Emiko crawled out from underneath the coat, shocking Munakata with her pointed ears and features. She was clearly Hiruma's child. The devil child he'd heard about during practice but couldn't actually believe existed! With a determined expression she went over and blew on Hiruma's ears, making them twitch.

"Papa!" Emiko called, poking Hiruma's forehead. She blew on his ear again, this time getting him to cringe and turn his head away from her on sought. Emiko kept blowing, poking, and speaking 'Papa' loudly until Hiruma let out a groan and opened his eyes.

Hiruma was not expecting to find himself answering to a grumpy Emiko when he came to.

"You're not supposed to sleep during a game." Emiko told him with a frown. "Take a nap before if you are tired."

"Yeah, sorry." Hiruma apologized with a soft tone.

"52-20." Emiko remarked and jumped off the bed, dragging Lewis' coat with her. Hiruma sat up with a grunt and looked forward.

"Not the worst." Hiruma commented absently.

"You're not seriously thinking of going out there-!" Munakata protested.

"Of course he's going to- he's a football player." Lewis cut him off.

"…Emiko where did you get that?" Hiruma asked, having noticed the coat. If you could call that gody monstrosity a 'coat', it _was_ one of those overly lush and arrogant coats Lewis favored after all.

"Fluffy comfort blanket!" Emiko announced.

"She was having an over-stimulation attack in the middle of the hall, so I gave it to her." Lewis answered in quick English. "For keeps."

It took Hiruma a few seconds to translate the 'for keeps' expression. It wasn't one he heard often. He nodded slowly.

Damn he had a headache! His vision went white when he made that nod. With lips pressed tight, Hiruma managed to keep in his desire to cry out from pain. Carefully he took two calming breaths.

"Anyone else have injuries?" Hiruma asked Munakata.

"Er, no. Not really." Munakata answered. "Let me do something about your hand."

Hiruma looked at is bruised hand and flexed the fingers. He didn't have the metallic taste in his mouth, nor did anything hurt more when he moved them.

"Don't need it." Hiruma said after a moment and got off the bed.

"…I'll take her back to her seat." Lewis assured Hiruma.

"Her seat." Emiko parroted.

"She's on the 50, six rows back, west side." Hiruma told Lewis.

Lewis wordlessly picked the newly re-made Emiko-bundle.

"Hiruma, win." Lewis advised Hiruma and left. Emiko's eyes poked out from beneath the coat and remained fixated on Hiruma as she was carried out and away.

"Still believing, huh?" Hiruma smiled and went out into the locker room.

"Well, well, fucking kiddies," Hiruma announced to the stunned locker room, "nap time's over, now let's turn this fucking game around."

**Wizards' Locker Room**

"Did you see what I did to that guy's hand? There's no way he can throw after that!" One of the linebackers laughed.

"You've realized you might have just broken the best quarterback in the world's throwing hand?" Yamato hissed in disapproval.

"Who cares! He's not coming back to bother us!" The linebacker roared in laughter.

Yamato only frowned.

"Are you satisfied with that?" Banba asked.

"What?"

"Are you satisfied with beating the great Hiruma Youichi because you destroyed him in the third play of the game?" Banba looked down on all of the players in the room. "You didn't beat him fair and square any victory you earn will be hollow."

"…."

"Hiruma was right to think the lot of you as cowards! You can't even face him straight on!" Banba snapped.

The team was silent for a moment then they sneered and went back to gloating. Banba found this better than he'd hoped. His words had, for however a short a time, struck home. For the first time that season.

**American Announcer Booth**

"Clifford! You lost your coat!" Hendrickson gasped.

"Had to give it away- there was an autistic girl in the hall and you know how they get when they're stressed and over-sensitized." Lewis explained as he sat down.

"Ah yeah, not much you can do but give up the coat then." Hendrickson nodded.

Pause.

"Well, what's the news on Youichi?" Hendrickson asked.

"The trainer said that we'd see by the start of the second half." Lewis answered tonelessly.

**The Field**

"Hiruma why the fuck are you out here!" Takekura barely held back screaming at his friend. "We all know how bad you got messed up!"

"Munakata exaggerates shit all the time and you know it." Hiruma snapped back as he put his wrist bands on. The rest of the Babies watched the exchange silently. "He wouldn't have let me out if he didn't think I could play!"

Takekura shut his mouth to keep from yelling out his anger.

"I know you weren't there for that huddle," Hiruma went on, "but I do intend to follow my own damn advice, got it old man?"

"Your own advice?" Takekura muttered dubiously.

"'Busting your ass like that injury is nothing.'" Toganou quoted.

Takekura stopped and looked at Hiruma tiredly.

"How the fuck am I supposed to face your little girl if you get crippled or worse!" Takekura asked, sounding desperate.

"How the fuck am I supposed to face my little girl if she's the one that _woke me up to play_ if I don't go out there?" Hiruma demanded almost hysterically, looking a bit upset. "Please don't ask me to choose between you two."

Wordlessly Takekura understood: Hiruma would always choose Emiko over anyone. It wasn't fair to ask him to stab a friend in the back.

"Let him go," Gaou told Takekura curtly, "it was a failure on the line's part anyways."

"Gaou?" Takekura blinked at the man.

"It won't happen again." Kurita assured Takekura as he snapped his helmet back on.

**-break-**

"Hiruma came out!" Ishimaru gasped, the rest of the Wizards couldn't help but to stare at the guy. He had a purple bruise on his right hand and his eyes were clearly dilated.

"…Why the hell is he out there?" Kojima stared. Even _he_ knew better than to step out on the field that fucked up.

"It's the level at which your opponent is playing." Yamato explained. "Hiruma-shi is playing at his fullest and most reckless for the sake of victory."

"Isn't that what we do?" Kojima asked.

"No, Hiruma's different from every one of you." Yamato shook his head. "He won't lay waste to his opponent to win, he'll just beat them outright, broken hand, concussion and all." Actually Hiruma would way waste to his opponent to win if that's what needed to happen and Yamato knew that. He just wanted his boys to see perhaps there was something sportsmanlike about their amazing opponent.

The team stared at Hiruma. All he did was look back and smirk at them while sticking a bit of gum in his mouth.

**"The second half is now starting, please return to your seats."** Sanada requested over the speakers.

"Say you fucking babies, are we ready?" Hiruma asked his teammates.

"Orraaa!"

No one knew what to think when Hiruma stepped out onto the field for the second half. This time he'd set up into a formation that no one was expecting: the shotgun.

"He's not seriously going to be throwing with that hand, is he?" Kojima muttered, a bit freaked out.

"Damn straight he is kid," Kuroki chuckled at the boy before him, "he'll even throw you a nice long bomber."

Normally it's considered horrible strategy to tell your opponent what you're going to do next, but right now everyone was sure Hiruma couldn't throw. So was this all a lie for a runner's sake? Or was this really coming?

"Set, hut!" Hiruma cried, caught the snap and got into a throwing stance. His line became a passing wall and his receivers went out. The one runner went shooting around the right with no ball. And in that confusion while everyone was trying to focus on the runner and receivers, Hiruma faked a throw and snuck around the left.

After about 15 yards, someone finally figured out that Hiruma had the ball, shouted then went after him. But this itself was a trap because the linebackers that were once chasing the runner were now focused on Hiruma. Pity because Hiruma, with his left hand, tossed the ball to the runningback and he took off at full speed.

"Amateurs!" Kaitani Riku scoffed and blasted past all of the defenders, using his Rodeo Drive and Romping Rodeo Drive techniques as he saw fit.

**"Kaitani is running alone! At the 40, 30, 20, 10- **_**touchdown!"**_ Sanada roared, the crowd joining him.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma laughed at the frustrated linebackers. "Did you really think this game was going to be easy?"

"Because I'll tell you something, next play, won't be a kick." Hiruma informed then with a grin, "one hundred percent prediction," and a wink for added effect.

"Wha-!"

Hiruma casually ignored the sputtering and walked over to Kurita.

"Stop holding back and blast those brats into next Tuesday." Hiruma informed Kurita quietly.

Kurita nodded gravely.

"Oye fishlips, switch out with Gaou." Hiruma ordered.

"Looks like its comeback time." Musashi grinned.

"Damn straight, fucking old man." Youichi agreed.

Needless to say there was nothing Saikyodai could do to stop Kurita, Gaou, _and_ Takekura ramming into them. The line crumpled like aluminum foil and Hiruma causally walked into the touchdown zone. This pissed off the Wizards but there was nothing that could be done about it. Mostly because trying to stop Gaou _and_ Kurita was going to be damn near impossible, especially with how strong they were.

"You fuckers were holding back on me!" Kojima screamed. He was a lineman, he knew how these things worked.

"…Yeah, sorry." Kurita bowed slightly, sincerely apologetic. He just couldn't get into it when Hiruma wasn't around….

"Fatty!" Hiruma called from the newly-forming huddle.

"Ah, coming!" Kurita waved to the Wizards and hurried over to Hiruma's side.

"…He just crushed us and then runs off like it's the most causal thing in the world." Another lineman shuddered.

"I'm going to kill that Hiruma!" Kojima vowed as his teammates dragged him away.

Yamato, on the other hand, was starting to feel pressured by all of this. He found himself calling a time-out to try and impress the urgency of the situation onto his team. The Wizards found the fact a time-out was called by Yamato very strange. These boys couldn't help but to look over at their coach's angry face in confusion. What was going on?

"They have the entire second half to recover 24 points," Yamato told his team, "after that try for point, I think we can expect eight point conversions from now on."

"Three touchdowns." Banba held up three fingers. "Just three and they catch up."

"A single kick or safety can tip the balance then," Yamato went on, "we might have the lead right now but this does not guarantee our victory!"

"You _must_ widen that gap at all costs." Banba told them sharply.

"But the Babies can't score-!" One of the wide receivers protested.

"You fool! Did you not remember the first four minutes of this game!" Ishimaru snapped at the guy. "The Babies scored 14 points in those four minutes! They stopped scoring touchdowns because Hiruma left the field, but now he's back! And the first damn thing he does is score another 8 points! We're not even a full minute into the second half yet!"

Most of the Wizards were staring at Ishimaru's words.

"He's right." Yamato remarked gravely. "Hiruma Youichi's specialty is comeback victories. In every single professional game he's been in he scores about 30 to 40 points in the second half."

"If he can get 40 points on a good day, then we need to score three times to keep him from being able to catch up." Banba told them gravely. "The effort here does not solely rely on the defense, the offense has to keep scoring or we will lose this game!"

"So, since they have the second half to make up those three touchdowns, I'm sure they'll keep up their current kicking pattern in favor of attempting interceptions or shutting you down in defense." Yamato told the team. "Now go out there and receive it!"

"Oye, Tetsuma," Hiruma went over to the large, power receiver, "I need you to catch the old man's squib kick, can you do that?"

"Affirmative." Tetsuma nodded, stood up, and stoically walked onto the field.

"Gaou, you're on kick team, crush anyone you see." Hiruma added the order and went and sat down on the bench. His head was still throbbing up a mess and his hand wasn't responding as well has he had hoped it would.

"Do you want some ice?" Juumonji asked, looking at that purple hand. Hiruma would be a fool if he thought he could throw with it.

"I need what little feeling I have." Hiruma left it at that. Juumonji was someone he could trust completely with his actual state. Mostly because Juumonji wouldn't try to stop him if Hiruma decided he wanted to do something stupid.

"How's your head?" Juumonji asked.

"I should be going straight to the hospital when this is over." Hiruma left it at that.

Juumonji said nothing in return mostly because he had a feeling Hiruma would not be going to the hospital right after this game. He'd be going out to dinner with everyone else. Probably because Emiko would want to go and Juumonji did observe that Hiruma had issues denying his daughter the few times she asked for things.

At least that's what he noticed in the times he occasionally visited the Hiruma-Anezaki house hold.

Takekura pulled back his leg and the Wizards backed away, waiting for that boomer of a kick. Who were they to think it would be an on-side kick? The Babies were in their normal kick formation and everything, even Tetsuma had been playing with the kick team this entire time, nothing out of ordinary.

The stands issued a loud gasp when the ball stumbled sideways and Tetsuma dove for it. It was painfully clear the Wizards had little practice with how to handle a sudden on-side kick as they crashed into each other and froze in the confusion. Not only that, but Tetsuma went running with the ball, Takekura as his lead blocker.

"You shitty ass-!" Kojima cried as he went for Takekura only to get side-tackled by Komusubi.

Takekura chuckled and ran on to crash into an unprepared lineman. Clearly the fact Takekura was a strong, muscular construction worker didn't seem to translate to his ability to crush and smack around an opponent, at least in the eyes of the surprised Wizards. Since forming the Babies, Takekura choose to keep up his practice as a linebacker so that in situations like this he wasn't a useless player on the field like Kotaro was.

Tetsuma continued forward, literally carrying any opponent that managed to get their hands on him with him down the field. It took 40 yards before Tetsuma was finally brought down.

Hiruma put a piece of gum in his mouth and stepped onto the field, happily chewing while he thought of plans. What to do, what to do? Something tricky? Something complicated? Something simple? What were those fucking opponents expecting?

Green eyes narrowed.

Pop.

"Oye, huddle up." Hiruma said casually, the gum back in his mouth and the smirk present upon his face.

**American Announcer Booth**

"How disappointing! I was hoping for one of those clever, trick formations Youichi's famous for." Hendrickson sighed when he was looking down at the usual offensive formation. In fact the formation was one of the basic ones, so basic it's the number one choice for teaching to a team as their first formation.

"No." Lewis up a hand while he scrutinized the formation below, his expression intense. "It only looks that way." Lewis' expression turned from one of extreme concentration to one of pleasant surprise and satisfaction.

"What do you mean Clifford?" Hendrickson asked with a frown, what did Lewis see that he did not?

"The runningback is probably a foot to the left than what would be 'correct', but since the second runner isn't giving any signals of being confused by this, I can safely say that's intentional." Lewis explained. "Which is a curious choice considering that Youichi is a right handed quarterback…."

"You're right!" Hendrickson muttered in amazement. "How come the Wizards' defense hasn't noticed?"

"Same reason why they can't see Sena do the same thing." Lewis chuckled at some personal joke.

"Sena? As in Eyeshield 21?" Hendrickson. "Your teammate?"

"Yup!" Lewis smiled almost evilly. "You see, Bob, both Riku and Sena are abnormally small football players, if they duck down just a little bit, you can't see them through the line at all."

"So the reason they haven't noticed is because they can't see Riku?" Hendrickson paused after he said that. "Wait-! Why aren't they panicked they can't!"

"They never saw him to begin with," Lewis answered, "normally Riku's head is hidden by the quarterback's body, and it's been like that in all of the plays in this game. Also because the distance isn't that much different than normal, the bench isn't going to be aware anything is amiss. The reality is only spectators like ourselves can see there's something amiss."

"So they don't know this is a trick formation." Hendrickson concluded.

"Of course not," Lewis scoffed at the thought that the Wizards might actually have noticed, "which is just the first trap."

"The first trap?"

"The second will be whatever he's planning to do with the play once it starts."

**The Field**

"Set, hut, hut, hut!" Hiruma called and pretended to catch the snap that had been aimed directly at Kaitani. Then while Kaitani went running to the left, Hiruma pretended to make a hand-off with the second runner, Gouto Kenta, a younger man, just out of college. This was only his first season playing with the Babies, it was his first game. He was replacing the original starter, who was injured in the last game. Ironically, Gouto had once complained about warming up at practice until Hiruma, his role model, showed up and told him off. He was nervous, of course, to be playing on the field with Hiruma.

And that was exactly why Hiruma had no intention of handing the kid the ball yet.

Gouto 'held' the ball tightly, looking very determined and serious as if he actually held the ball in his hands. The tight end came forward and helped lead block for him, to help with the illusion he actually had the ball. Gouto kept dodging and maneuvering as if he held the ball, drawing the defense towards himself.

Kaitani on the other hand was just lazily running, purposely not looking serious as if to say 'why are you wasting your time on me when my teammate so clearly has the ball?'. This was very effective as the Wizards' entire defense closed in on Gouto.

"Ya-ha!" Kaitani cried and burst off with a sudden rush of speed just as the defenders realized that Gouto did not have the ball, something he should have had in the normal play. Kaitanti was already past the entire defense save one lone safety. Without any hesitation Kaitani blew past the poor kid before he had time to react.

**"Touchdown!"** Sanada cried.

"W-we haven't even touched the ball yet!" One of the Wizards protested.

"Is there a particular reason we're in such a hurry to get points?" Kaitani asked as Hiruma came up for the try-for-point.

"I want to get in the lead without them touching the ball," Hiruma answered, "I want to show these fucking brats we've been toying with them this entire fucking game."

"Are you asking them to try and kill you!" Kuroki protested.

"They won't fucking touch me," Hiruma explained, pointing at Banba, "fucking scar-head over there gave them a fucking talk about 'hallow victories' shit when I got knocked off the field. And I fucking bet they're freaked out that I've been scoring on their asses without using my fucking hand."

"Oh." Kuroki took a moment to stare at the opposing team. Well, that certainly made sense as they looked extremely demoralized and stunned.

**American Announcer Booth**

"Three more touchdowns." Lewis announced suddenly.

"Three? But there's only two until a tie-" Hendrickson protested.

"-If Youichi can keep the Wizards from gaining possession in three more touchdowns, he's won the game." Lewis explained.

"Are you sure?" Hendrickson asked.

"If at the start of the second half your opponent manages to keep you from touching the ball for four straight touchdowns and by doing so steals the lead from you that means when you get possession for the first time it's because your opponent is _letting_ you have the ball." Lewis explained. "Honestly Bob, I can't think of a better way to completely demoralize an entire team."

"Oh." Hendrickson blinked. "So this next kick off is a squib kick then?"

"Not necessarily," Lewis responded, "it could be a repeat of the first play."

"A repeat?" Hendrickson paused. "But that was a failed play!"

"Do you honestly think it's going to fail a second time?" Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Because the chances of that are zero percent."

**The Field**

"We're going to redo that fucking first play." Hiruma announced. "Fuck it up and I'll kill you."

Tense pause.

"Well no, I'm not going to fucking kill you," Hiruma corrected himself, "you're just going to wish I fucking killed you."

Nakamura nodded. He'd been doing much, much better after being told he ought to be doing this for fun. But he did know that it's a lot harder to have fun when someone on your team got badly hurt, which is why he didn't do anything impressive after Hiruma's disappearance.

Kuroda nodded as well. Everyone knew how that play was supposed to go, so they were going to do it right.

"The fuckers are expecting another fucking squib kick, make sure they think it's one." Hiruma added and then sent out the kick team.

The Wizards were nervous especially since their reliable coach (whom they were pressured enough and desperate enough to actually listen to this time) with his one hundred percent prediction confessed he had 'no clue' what was going to happen with this play. When someone demanded how that was possible, Yamato then remarked that Hiruma Youichi often tricked him with his plays in the past and since there was no determinable pattern with his methods right now, anything he'd suggest them doing would just be a wild guess. The entire season, regardless of whether or not they listened to Yamato, he always knew what the opponent was up to. Bamba had been silent too.

During their huddle, the Wizards decided it was probably a squib kick. It would make sense if the Babies really wanted to trash their moral by keeping them away from the ball. They were weary and perturbed though.

It was like walking into darkness, blind. The Wizards began to realize, slowly, that they had been lucky in the first half. Very lucky.

Hiruma Youichi, he was an advanced player, a veteran of this game, he was the only rival of Clifford D. Lewis and with good reason. The man was an unreal player. And these poor boys were just now starting to realize what kind of danger they were in. Nothing was guaranteed anymore. This game wasn't necessarily theirs. Never before had the Wizards been in this situation.

Takekura deftly kicked the ball at that number 24, Yami of the Wizards, the ace runningback. The Wizards were again caught off guard, having been diving for the squib kick, only to see that the Babies changed out of the squib formation at the last minute. Yami ran back, catching the ball in around the five yard line only to see the Babies had once again smashed their way through the opposing team and where almost on him.

Nakamura of the Babies came running forward. He was smiling and almost laughing as he rushed forward with the intent of smacking the ball. Yami only rolled his eyes and retreated a bit to make preparations for cutting away when Nakamura's massive hand came down and swatted the ball.

The ball echoed loudly in the stadium as it fell down, fumbled. Yami actually didn't hold the ball completely correctly and relied on his speed to keep it safe. Hiruma had been right, he did have a lose grip. Nakamura laughed and then went to block Yami from retrieving the ball.

Shinji only smiled and let the ball continue bouncing away. They were in the end zone due to Yami's retreat, and he decided letting the ball get out of bounds would be better than grabbing it.

"Saikyodai Safety!" The referee called after whistling.

Hiruma smirked like a fool. He could get a lead in two touchdowns now. How fitting.

Yamato swore.

Up in the announcer booth Hendrickson was yelling in amazement while Lewis smirked approvingly.

It was only a matter of time before victory was sealed.

**American Announcer Booth**

"It seems like Youichi really does have a hand injury, he's been really banking on the runs this entire offense." Hendrickson commented with a frown. Earlier Lewis had suggested that Youichi might have a hand injury and they watched a reply of the play where Hiruma got taken off the field in the first half. When they saw his hand getting stomped on, Lewis' blood went cold.

You should never destroy the hand of a quarterback. Doing so is only an act of cruelty. Lewis was now worried about the injury and what it meant for Hiruma long term. Hiruma wasn't young anymore; a hand injury like this could mean this was his last game. And the fact it was his return game-

-Lewis caught himself. There was no point in plotting to murder some overly hormonal Japanese brat. Yet. Hiruma was important, yes, but he was also his own man. Lewis had to be respectful of Hiruma's wishes of murder first before he could do anything.

"…Yeah." Lewis agreed, almost absent-mindedly. It was hard to watch someone like Hiruma get injured like that.

Hendrickson made the motion to cut to a commercial and then discretely muted the mikes.

"Are you okay?" Hendrickson asked. Lewis had gone pale and tight-lipped and had gotten extremely intense about something.

"The extent of his hand injury isn't clear." Lewis explained. "And he's running around there with a concussion."

Hendrickson swore. That was just astounding.

In Lewis' mind was a dreadful thought he couldn't shake.

_What if this was Hiruma's last game?_

**The Field**

"His hand really _is_ injured." Yamato confirmed with a pair of binoculars a few downs into the next offense. "He's using runs because that's the only thing he can use."

"Except that even with only runs he's still steadily advancing." Banba observed.

"It's because of the kind of running plays he's doing. There's at least three, no four, separate running patterns and every runner is capable of tossing the ball to someone else if needed." Yamato explained. "And because it's Hiruma, there's no pattern to the runs or runners at all."

**"First down!"** Sanada announced. **"15 yards to go."**

"Coach-!" One of the defenders was pleading for help.

"…Crush his line and blitz, concentrate the defense on the sides, nothing's going to be coming up center." Yamato advised with confidence.

"It's time to pass it." Hiruma announced. "Trap Shotgun Formation." A trap shotgun was when you sent out four receivers, but they didn't appear to be receiving. They were closer to the start than usual in their running sets, but they all looked like they were about to run.

"Can you really-?" Kaitani protested.

"I fucking _can_, now you're on shotgun!" Hiruma left it at that. He wasn't about to explain that despite the injury, you can still throw a reliable spiral as long as the wrist and arm were uninjured. The hand stayed in about the same place during a throw, so he'd be okay for throwing.

No, it wasn't throwing that would suck, it would be catching the snap. That required two hands and there was no way around the pain. Hiruma grit his teeth and prepared. One long pass, 15 yards in one shot. He'd sent out his fastest receivers, they were thinking it was going to be a run since that was his entire pattern this offense, this would work.

**The Stands**

Emiko bit her lip, worried.

Papa was about to hurt himself.

It was really, really hard to watch.

**The Field**

Hiruma forced down a yelp and saw stars when he caught that snap. He didn't stumble from the pain, but forcing his arm up into a throwing position was so very, very hard. His entire arm felt like lead.

Huh, under extreme exertion conditions, sweat is literally shoved out of your pours by the muscles tensing and straining. Logically Hiruma knew that already, but watching it happen in slow motion on his own arm was morbidly fascinating.

And with an inaudible snap, time went back to its normal pace, pain seared his vision, blurring it slightly. His headache joined the unholy throb in his hand and Hiruma only growled once. The Wizards had been successfully confused by the passing patterns that were happening. That was because there was another trap in this play….

All of the routes were Option Routes.

There was no predetermined pass route for any of the runners, it was just a matter of getting your sorry ass open and confusing the defense as much as possible.

Kaitani was going to be open momentarily in the End Zone even.

Someone was trying to blitz and all Hiruma did was grin and preformed a quick draw of his own. It wasn't quite as fast as Mushanokoji's, but it would give him plenty of time before the defender arrived to get himself out of relative harm. As it turned out the moment he tossed the ball, the would-be-blitzer could only stare at both the ball and quarterback in confusion. Hiruma dropped his football stance and allowed his posture to turn very casual from head to toe.

"Nice night for a game, no?" Hiruma told the stunned lad as if he was offering to have a casual conversation about the weather. The defender growled and made motions to tackle Hiruma.

"You know tackling an old, injured man like me in front of both the refs and the fans isn't going to earn you or your losing team any help." Hiruma pointed out. "Even idiots know you're not supposed to tackle someone who doesn't have the ball and isn't on the line."

Before the kid could completely lose his temper, another referee announced that the Babies had scored again. The Wizards watched in amazement as the linemen on the Babies changed up again. It was so obvious they were aiming for another touchdown conversion and there was nothing to be done to stop it.

"They're completely demoralized." Takekura observed as he joined his team's huddle.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma laughed loudly enough the other team could hear and shudder.

"They know we're going for a touchdown." Kaitani remarked.

"That's because we fucking are going for another touchdown." Hiruma rolled his eyes. "Except you're fucking running it down the side."

"Why?" Someone asked.

"Because they aren't expecting it."

And the Wizards weren't.

Now it was a single touchdown away from taking the lead back, the Babies were going strong, stronger than they had been all season.

**American Announcer Booth**

"It's over now." Lewis announced.

"What?" Hendrickson seemed started by the announcement.

"Youichi's shattered their morale completely." Lewis explained. "He can leave the rest of the game to Kid if he wanted to."

"-Watch it folks, here comes another on-side kick from the Babies! Oh it's good! Number 29, Riku Kaitani, just took the ball back to the 65 yard line. Excellent play!" Hendrickson announced, his eyes lighting up.

**The Stands**

Emiko smiled slightly. Papa was going to win~!

**The Field**

"He's passing." Yamato muttered in awe. "With a clearly broken hand."

"Is there any way we can stop him, Coach?" One of the Wizards asked.

Yamato glanced at the scoreboard. "Our only option is to gain possession and out score him but-"

"-that's impossible." Banba added. "The Babies are not allowing anyone but themselves to have possession right now."

"What about an interception?" Someone suggested.

Just then they did managed to intercept the ball, only to have one of the Babies screw bite it right out of the luck guy's hands and run it down for another touchdown.

"…Well, Ishimaru," Yamato began grimly, "have you learned something?"

"….Yeah."

**American Announcer Booth**

Hiruma hadn't played after the Babies took the lead, Mushanokoji had replaced him to give that poor quarterback's hand a rest. Because of the demoralizing that had been done, the Wizards no longer put their strength or their boundless youthful energy into their shoddy form. This made them easy pickings for the veteran Babies who just used an easy, fundamentals game to firmly crush their opponent. Every time there was a weakness, in form or in play, the Babies noticed and acted on it.

It had been a slaughter house.

102-52, in favor of the Babies. It was the first Rice Bowl in history to have a triple digit score.

Lewis had walked away 'highly satisfied' and left the end game summary to Hendrickson.

"It appears as though Clifford has left us for some more 'undisclosed' reasons." Hendrickson chuckled when the feed came on again. "I will have to agree with him, Youichi Hiruma was definitely the MVP in this match the difference he made when on the field was exceptional-"

Hendrickson ended the after-game analysis with a worried comment about the extent of Hiruma's injuries. After taking back the lead, he'd been benched the rest of the game. There his hand was tapped up and iced and he put on sunglasses, a clear sign he didn't want to harm his eyes from their concussion induced dilation.

Anezaki and Yuuya took the Emiko-bundle out of the stands five game minutes before the end of the game. In that five minutes two time outs were called, so it went on much longer in reality. Emiko was clearly grouchy and overtaxed, which was no surprise considering that she'd had a breakdown from being oversensitized once already. She did allow herself to be carried down to the locker room area, where it was much quieter, and finally showed signs of calming down.

Since the game wasn't quite over yet, Anezaki and Yuuya chose to wait outside of the locker room for a bit. This was where Lewis found them.

"Clifford-kun!" Anezaki hadn't spoken to him in ages. She had heard from Emiko that he would be here today, but she hadn't honestly believed it considering now was a pretty horrible time for him to be abroad.

Yuuya was mildly surprised Anezkai didn't realize Lewis was here. She'd been told by Hiruma and Emiko and by himself this would be happening. Hell, she'd even seen the coat he'd given Emiko! …Well in Anezaki's defense she'd been amazingly dense about Sena being Eyeshield 21, he supposed this had just been another one of those occasions.

Lewis waved once while he gaged Emiko's state. Being from America and being educated in the public school system, Lewis actually had been raised around autistic children [2]. Emiko looked like hell warmed over and Lewis suspected that the football game had been a bit too much and it was taking all of her power to not be screaming right now.

"You play right?" Yuuya asked without preamble and waited for Lewis' nod. "How long are we going to be waiting?"

Lewis opened his mouth to answer when the locker room door swung open and Hiruma stumbled into the hall. His hand had been notably taped now with ice and his head looked like it was slightly swollen. He looked pretty ragged by he was grinning like an idiot.

"You look horrible in pink." Lewis announced in English. And no, he wasn't joking either. Pink was not a flattering color against Hiruma's yellow skin, it made him look ill. Lewis, with his red (well pinkish really) northern European complexion looked a bit more flushed than usual, but wasn't clashing quite the way Hiruma was.

"But I wear it with dignity." Hiruma countered in English with one of his ferocious grins. His eyes turned to Emiko who had brightened her expression marginally since his appearance, but only marginally. She looked like she'd just had a very, very trying day.

"How's the hand?" Lewis asked much more seriously in English.

"My hand is fine- nothing's broken, just battered." Hiruma answered in Japanese. Anezaki let out an audible sigh of relief.

"And the head?"

"A small headache, I'll be fine." Hiruma waved it off again.

Emiko squirmed some. She wanted to be carried by Papa, not by Grandpapa. Of course the adults didn't really know how to interpret this other than it was probably time to take Emiko out of there.

"Youichi," Anezaki began carefully, "are you going to be at the dinner?" She knew he probably shouldn't go considering he'd gotten a concussion.

Hiruma nodded and made motions to say something else when someone called his name from inside the locker room.

"-I have to shower." Hiruma announced.

"Papa!" Emiko yelled. Maybe now he'd see she wanted a hug?

Hiruma reached over and gave Emiko a very affectionate pat on the head.

"You did great today." Hiruma told her, not bothering to hide how proud he was of her. "I'll be back really quickly, okay?"

Emiko nodded slowly and Hiruma took that as his cue to leave.

"So, Hiruma-san, I need a ride back to the hotel before this party…." Lewis began somewhat cryptically.

**After Party**

As usual, there was always dinner at a traditional Japanese steakhouse of some kind. Anezaki and Emiko had hung back at the stadium, waiting for Hiruma to finish cleaning up and talking to the press. There were dozens of questions concerning his condition, why he hadn't played all season and where he had been the last six years.

"I'm fucking fine- stop asking me that!" "Coach and doctor told me not to." "Had a kid."

The last one was most alarming. Hiruma had had _a child!_ It seemed so surreal.

"I don't have any fucking pictures on me- I'm wearing a fucking football uniform, dipshit! It doesn't have fucking pockets."

Name, star sign, blood type, birthday, physical description, now please.

"Hiruma Emiko. And none of the rest of that shit matters."

Does she look like you?

"More like her mother- she's fucking adorable."

Who is her mother?

"My late wife, now if you don't fucking mind, I'm trying to get the hell out of here."

What?

"I'm taking her out to fucking dinner and she gets anxious when I'm late."

Wha-! Wait! Hiruma-shi!

…Where'd the team go?

Takekura had made it insanely clear that the Babies would be out and packed up _quickly_ so that they'd be at the restaurant on time. Anyone who was running late would probably get shot by Hiurma had been his warning. No one who had played with Hiruma prior questioned this, but a few newer members did. Takekura had simply told them that Hiruma's autistic daughter got very stressed and anxious if he was running more than 30 seconds late and this translated to a Hiruma that was running late becoming upset at the notion of upsetting his daughter and he would be liable to take that out on others.

Needless to say the team was completely out of there and two minutes early to the restaurant they had selected. When Hiruma finally made his appearance in the restaurant of choice, he was pleased to see the noise level was reasonable. He'd allowed Emiko to have a small screaming fit to calm her down enough to handle the after-game party. She looked grumpy, for lack of a better word, but seemed in relative good spirits despite getting completely overstimulated earlier.

"Oye! Hiruma!" Kurita waved from the table where he and Takekura where sitting. They'd saved Hiruma and his company seats there. Without sparring a single moment, Hiruma quickly marched Emiko over and sat her down before she could be distracted or made more upset by something else in the room.

Emiko observed that everyone in the room got really quiet and looked at her as she and Papa walked by. Although what they were doing seemed strange and unusual, Emiko just smiled and walked along. Papa said dinner was going to be tasty and that Mom, and Grandpapa, and Clifford-san would all be there.

"Where's Grandpapa?" Emiko asked when they arrived at the table. Mom was just behind them, but Grandpapa and Clifford weren't.

Hiruma looked around a bit curious himself. Where were they?

Yes, Clifford is providing a cliffhanger. The pun is not lost on me and was intentional.

And also, I'm now a world champion engineer. Whoo!

[1] – _Jiheishou_, according to an online English-Japanese dictionary I found, is 'autism' in Japanese. It's not a word someone would know, even if they were bi-lingual. In Clifford's case he hadn't had a reason to learn the word in Japanese, therefore it was unfamiliar when Emiko's issues were first explained to him. If you wish to argue this, I will ask you this first: how often do you use the world 'autism' in your day to day speech?

[2] – Almost all autistic children in the US find themselves being schooled in the public school system. Private schools can reject a student because they "do not have the facilities" to deal with them (this happened to me). It is neither impossible nor improbable for Clifford to have had exposure to autistic children growing up, which is why he recognizes the behavior and knows exactly what to do next. The reason why I say 'from America' here is because the autism rate there is 1 in 150 (while Japan has 2 in 1000).


End file.
